Wolman's in the Hamptons

The last day of July meant my first day of FAMILY VACATION. 

I took the train home Friday after work, got dressed, and left with my parents for the restaurant where we were throwing my Nanny a surprise birthday party. 

Slowly, our big happy family filled the private room and we waited for Uncle Greg to show up with the birthday girl. Sitting in a room whose walls were giant floor to ceiling windows, we tried our best to turn away so Nanny didn't see us as she made her way inside. 

I wish the pictures came out better - but I think it's safe to say she was surprised! Maybe even a little teary, seeing a room filled with all of her favorite people (we're all your favorites, right Nanny?!) 

Behind Nanny and Poppy were Uncle Greg and Aunt Christine, who I hadn't seen since Thanksgiving, and THESE two little munchkins. 

Despite living in South Carolina, my aunt and uncle have raised Julia and Claire to know all of their east coast aunts, uncles and cousins wonderfully. I don't know who was more excited - us, or them. 

Our prix-fixe dinner was tasty - my sister and I split the eggplant Parmesan and fish entrees.

Given my choice of desserts, I will rarely pick cake. But given a piece of cake, I will always eat cake. And the cake was actually delicious. 

When my Poppy got up to give a little toast to Nanny, it was so so sweet. I could not be more grateful and appreciative of the love I grew up surrounded by. Not only did my grandparents and parents love for ME allow me to feel happy and secure, but their love for EACH OTHER has shown me that no matter what life throws at you, no matter how stressful it can get - if you are with the right person you can always find reasons to laugh and smile. 

Being surrounded by my family made me SO ready for a week spent with them in Hampton Bays.

(Gangs (almost) all here - and we've got a selfie stick...uh-oh!)

Saturday I attempted a run, which, shockingly, was a pain-free 3 miles. Those 3 miles were more of a jog than a run, but it was the first time that I wasn't limping a mile into it, so I was a pretty happy camper. 

I convinced my mom to drive 20 minutes to the nearest Trader Joe's so I could get some "me" food for the week -long vacation. Sandwich thins, chocolate covered almonds, garlic aioli mustard sauce - you know, the essentials. She also had to return something at Macy's next door so that's the real reason we made the trip. And I was excited because I was given permission by master-chef Mitch to make the three of us dinner that night! A healthy dinner!

And a delicious dinner, if I do say so myself. Mom and Dad both seemed to agree, and I know they would be honest with me if it was sub-par. 

I made a quinoa salad with edamame, mango and black beans along with salmon brushed with sauce made by mixing olive oil with the garlic aioli mustard sauce (again, credit to Kayla!) 

Dad made mom and I his version of the "China Blossom" from China Grill, my favorite cocktail, and I soaked in a rare night sitting out on my deck. I've had an eventful, fun summer, but the number of days spent at home on Long Island have been dismally low.

(Remember how I said I had the best role-models for happy marriages? HOW CUTE ARE THEY?!)

Sunday afternoon was the day - we packed up the truck and set out for the Wolman Family Vacation 2015. 

True story - we used to get t-shirts made for the occasion. Then there were the beer koozies. No outfitting this year, though. 

Most summer's, we go on a big family vacation like this. My grandparents rent a house and all 20 of us spend a week swimming, eating, drinking, playing games and boating. There's a lot of conversation around which house is our favorite that we've stayed in, and the consensus seems to be that nothing beats that first house, which we returned to once and try to return to every summer (Camp O-Kwa-Ri-Ga).  Here's a run down of the Wolman Family Vacation spots over the last couple of years: 

1) Camp O-Kwa-Ri-Ga in the Adirondacks (2008 and 2013). Nothing seems to beat the seclusion - meaning lots of late nights at the fire. The main cabin is great for fitting all of us, and there's a smaller cabin perfect for Nanny and Poppy (they deserve to be spoiled!) But the best part is the boat house right down by the lake. There's a dock, which means we can rent a boat and tube and water ski. And there's paddle boats, kayaks, a canoe, a pool table, piano, balcony for jumping into the lake, and shuffleboard table. So many hysterical moments have happened at O-Kwa-Ri-Ga. From ghost stories, to my dad pretending to be a bear and scaring the crap out of my uncle in the middle of the night - this place feels like home, maybe because it was the first time we all did a trip like this. 

2) Maryland Mansion (2009) - This house was definitely fancier than the Adirondacks. But there's no boat house, and sitting down by the water wasn't as easy. The plus was that we could still rent a boat AND drive the boat across the lake to the Honi Honi bar for happy hour (still fun, despite not being 21 at the time). The lake was a lot rougher though, with more boat traffic, which stressed my dad out and made tubing and water skiing a lot less enjoyable. We could make a fire outside though, a definite plus! And, my family will understand the significance of this - it was at the Maryland Mansion that Claudia Ellen was born! 

3) Rhode Island Beach Mansion (2014) - This house was weirdly fancy. But there was the beach a few steps away AND a pool. No nighttime fires, but the outdoor patio was nice. The option of pool or beach was nice. Sadly, I only spent 3 days at this house, because it was my first year working and I had no vacation time. But while I was there, we discovered the plethora of clams at the beach, which my dad naturally dug up with his bare hands and feet, with the help of uncles and cousins, which we feasted on. There was also a great running and biking path nearby, and as I was marathon training and my uncle was training for a 100 mile bike ride, that was clutch. The restaurant we went for dinner at that year was also THE BOMB. 

4) That brings us to 2015. Originally, we were supposed to go to a lake house near Hunter Mountain. But my grandma had a weird feeling, and after going to check it out, it was a big thumbs down. So last minute, her and my aunt managed to find a beautiful house in Hampton Bays for us to spend the week. The best part? It only took us an hour to get there! The quarters were a little more cramped than usual (though there were more bathrooms and showers!) and there were a lot of rules since the Hamptons can be a little hoity-toity - we couldn't be outside after dark which meant no fires. And we were about a 5 minute drive to the ocean, instead of having it in our backyard (wow, I'm sorry I don't mean to sound quite so spoiled there...) but there were so many GREAT things about this house! A huge pool AND a hot tub. A really great town to explore. A new tradition - the Wolman talent show! A basement with air hockey, foosball and pool. We just won't talk about the dining room chairs...

We were the first to arrive and after driving around to check out the beach and nearby bars and restaurants, we pulled into the driveway of this lovely little house. 

(Ok, 8 rooms, maybe not so little!) 

We figure out the rooming situation which worked out quite well for me - since my sister refuses to share a bed with me (SHE's the one who moves around a ton, NOT me...) she had an air mattress, I had a bed to myself, and my parents shared the other. 

Our days during the week went a little something like this: 

-I would wake up around 8 and go for a bike ride on my little cousins bike or into the basement for some deck of cards workouts. One morning I ran with my Mom and aunt, hopeful after my Saturday morning pain-free run, but unfortunately the IT band acted up again and my knee felt like it was being stabbed after 2.5 miles. So running wasn't part of my week, as much as I would have liked it to be. 

(My 10 year old cousin's bike - perfect fit!)

-After working out I would make myself breakfast - lox and a bagel, Greek yogurt with all the fixings, oatmeal, cereal - so much to choose from. And for someone who loves breakfast like no other meal, it was like Christmas every morning. What's the saying? "I love going to be because it's like a time machine to breakfast." Exactly. 

-Spend the day either at the beach (we went to the ocean two days and to the the bay for one day) or by the pool. At the ocean, I didn't get in the water because the waves were big and it wasn't too hot out anyway. 

At the bay, we swam around despite the rocky bottom and shallow water (North Shore Long Islander over here - totally used to the rocks!) At the pool, I attempted to improve upon my horrendous swimming skills, and although I dressed the part, I probably lasted a total of 10 minutes before frustration overcame me. By the end of the week, though, I DID feel I had made a little bit of improvement. 

-Pre-dinner snacking was a wonderful time of day - we broke out bags upon bags of chips and dips and cracked open some brewskis...or even better, my dad made margaritas. One night, the pre-dinner snacking involved clams on the half shell and another night, shrimp cocktail. You wouldn't believe how fast they got scarfed down! 

Another night, my dad made his artichoke dip - cheese, mayo and artichoke hearts. It might sound gross, but it's so addictive, despite the calorie count. 

(Happy hour - whipping our hair back and forth and eating cheese doodles)

-The way dinner works on these trips is each family gets assigned a night and they make the meal. Pretty simple. This year, some meals included - spiral ham with baked beans, brats and pierogies with LOTS of onions, pasta with chicken and vegetables, filet minion with broccoli and baked potato. There's also always a night where we all go out as a big group, and wreak havoc on some poor, unsuspecting restaurant in the area that is totally not accustomed to seeing a group of 22 people walk in. This year, however, my dad and his siblings had graduated high school with the owner of a local bar/restaurant - so we gave him a heads up, got the back room of Gator's to ourselves, and enjoyed a meal out on the town. 

I'm not sure what it was, but I was having horrible heart burn all week - something that I've never experienced before. One night, I got up out of bed with that urgent, "I think I'm going to be sick" feeling - only to see that the bathroom was occupied.  So I hurried downstairs and, I'll spare you the details, but, I was right - I was sick. After awhile I made my way back upstairs. As I entered the bedroom my family was staying in, my mom goes, "Did you see your father?" 

"No, why?" I asked, a little confused. 

"He thinks you're missing. Him and Sam are searching for you."

Dear Lord. 

Eventually they came inside and saw I was alive and well, aside from the vomit. They stopped looking in bushes and at the bottom of the pool for my body, and we all went to sleep. 

-After dinner every night there were different things to do in the basement, my little cousins organized a talent show one night, and we somehow peacefully watched the GOP debate another night. There were games of "What If..." and "Cards Against Humanity," which you're probably thinking, "Isn't that weird to play with your family?" The answer is yes. Yes, it can be a little strange, but it is also always hilarious. 

(Talent.)

There were a few special activities as well, like the morning that a group of us went paddle boarding. We were enjoying ourselves, paddling like pros (including my fearless little cousin Kyle), and I was even getting fancy with some downward dog. 

(Zen)

Then, we decided to head back. 

Uh-oh. 

Though the teacher had encouraged us to go even further than we ended up going, as soon as we turned around to make the trip back to the shop, we realized the wind was far stronger than when we first headed out. We paddled to no avail. I couldn't get past one boat for about 20 minutes. Kyle was spinning in circle. Eventually, my mom and I got Kyle situated on my board and she towed this board behind hers. We still weren't making much progress, but with Kyle laying down and using his hands to paddle along with me, we moved a little bit. Then, my mom realized we could stand. So there was some sludging through the water that way. 

They must have realized we were struggling, because we heard yells and looked to the shore to see my uncle and the paddle board shop owner waving us onto the beach.  We were still SO far from the shop, so we walked our boards up and put them in her pick-up truck for a lift back to get our stuff. 

She told us we were doing great, and that even SHE had some problems getting HERSELF in to shore. That made us feel better But we were EXHAUSTED and I was starving. I had planned to go to paddle board yoga the next morning - but, no thanks. 

Another fun night was when we went to Cowfish for happy hour and then took the Rum Barge over to Rumba for dinner. 

Cowfish was one of the most beautiful restaurants I've ever seen. The landscaping and flowers were beautiful, and the view couldn't get much more perfect. There were lawn games and couches and it was such an oasis. I couldn't stop taking pictures! 

We loaded up the Rum Barge and took it across the water to Cowfish's sister restaurant, Rumba, which we heard had the better menu for dinner. The view and outdoor area wasn't as nice, so I was really happy with our decision to do drinks at Cowfish and dinner at Rumba. 

Rumba had it's own style and feel - much more laid back and island-y. The food was KILLER and SO PRETTY. 

Are you ready for these avocado tacos? I don't think you're ready. Rastaman's Taco: paneed avocado, island slaw, corn salsa and rasta cream. 

What does "paneed" mean, you ask. Well, I Googled it so that you don't have to - basically it means bread-crumbed. Fried avocado might sound weird, but I promise you it wasn't. It was very LIGHTLY coated. Almost like a light tempura. The slaw was to die for. Or maybe it was the rasta cream. Either way, I could have eaten 2384932 of these for dinner and not tried anything else and still been happy. 

We also tried the duck empanadas because...I mean, duh. They were good too (greasy, fried good) but those tacos were on a different level. 

For my entree I got the jumbo scallop and papaya salad with avocado, tomatoes and corn. I don't know why I didn't sub the papaya for mango. I know I don't like papaya. And this confirmed it. But everything else about the salad was delicious! 

Mom: Ahi Tuna Salad- mango, avocado, purple onion, sesame seed, filed greens, tuna, "yummy yummy" sauce.

Nanny: Jumbo diver scallops- rum reduction sauce, white beans, capers, rice & mache 

Dad: Shrimp Boat- sage breaded shrimp, remoulade, avocado, lettuce and tomato 

Sam: Jerk Chicken Platter: coconut risotto and mango papaya honey salsa. This stuff was NO JOKE spicy. 

The cocktails were wonderfully refreshing and flavorful and the Hot Fudge Sundae was plain sinful. I've never seen a sundae that comes served with an entire gravy boat of hot fudge to be poured on top. And all of it was poured, trust me. 

After the rum barge got a little stuck in the shallow water, we were on our way back to Cowfish to pick up our cars and head back to the house. 

Watching the sunset was the perfect end to a pretty awesome night. 

Another night my parents, sister and grandparents went for a cocktail at Oakland's where I reestablished my love of prosecco. 

The last night, we again did happy hour and dinner out, this time at The Hampton Lady. 

Though the service wasn't anything to write home about, and the margaritas left something to be desired - the Mai Tais, crafted by a Hawaiian bartender, were phenomenal and the food was quite good along with the half-price drink happy hour special. Can't complain about that! I ordered the fish tacos and my dad got the lobster, which we split. 2 lobsters with corn and potatoes for $28! My mom got a burger that I was SO close to ordering - bacon, blue cheese, and a grilled shrimp on top! My sister ordered clams on the half shell and the Thai fried-calamari which was quite good! 

After dinner, my parents dropped me off at the train station and it was time to say goodbye. I got pretty emotional - tearing up a little as I watched them drive away. 

I just love how close I am with my family - the fact that I can be genuinely excited about spending 7 days in a house with 22 relatives says a lot - and I know how incredibly #blessed I am. 

Lately, I've been having a little bit of wanderlust. My list of places that I want to see and explore has grown a lot in the past few months. In fact, I used to not even have a list of places I wanted to see and explore. Now, I badly want to go to Iceland. I'm longing for a trip out west to hike and explore National Parks. Denver, Idaho, Yellowstone. I want to do and see it all. But having 10 vacation days means prioritizing. 

I know the day will come when I forego the family vacation to do my own thing. But when, a week after leaving Hampton Bays, my grandma sent me a link to next years house (we return to the Adirondacks!) I just thought to myself, "How can I turn down a week with the people who matter most to me?"

We shall see what happens next summer. But until then, the memories of Hampton Bays will carry me until Christmas, when I get to see everyone again! 

Nanny and Poppy - I know you're reading this, because you are my biggest fans - THANK YOU for making and raising and nurturing this big, crazy, wonderful, beautiful family and for giving us the opportunity to spend time together. 

I wrapped up the weekend with a trip to Target and Costco with Rebecca and Melissa, unpacked, and got ready for another week in the big apple. 

Busy Week

Monday, July 27 was an important day. 

The Bachelorette Finale, obviously. 

Though we all failed at watching the show together on a weekly basis, a bunch of us got together at Melissa's apartment to watch the finale, foam roll, and eat a lot of delicious food. 

More exciting than the finale was the fact that Kaitlin brought us LEVAIN BAKERY COOKIES!

She brought chocolate chocolate chip, peanut butter, and regular chocolate chip. All were amazing, all lived up to the hype, and naturally, I favored the peanut butter cookie. 

Somehow, even though they weren't fresh out of the oven, all the chocolate on the inside of the cookie was moist and melty as if they were still hot. 

Do you know the story behind the cookies? They were created by Constance McDonald and Pamela Weekes while they trained for an Ironman - they needed a way to get a LOT of calories back in their bods. 

Now, we eat this 6 ounce cookie as dessert. 

'Merica. 

Tuesday night I got home from work and made a portable dinner for picnic in the park. I LOVE how these Mexican Mason jars turned out! I layered the following: 

Lettuce
Choululah shredded chicken (canned chicken heated up in a skillet with Choululah sauce)
Spicy black bean dip from Trader Joe's
Coconut oil sauteed sweet potato
Sauteed peppers
Corn cut off the cob and seasoned with cilantro and chili 

These delicious jars came with me to Carl Schurz Park where we watched Frozen with all of the children of the Upper East Side. Good thing we brought some wine in a water bottle. 

Wednesday night was my "surprise" date for Peter that he figured out because he gets the damn guitarists newsletter. GRR!

Anyway, months and months ago I had bought us tickets to go see Andy McKee and two other guitarists perform at BB Kings. I was a little nervous that I would be super bored with only guitar music, but it was AMAZING and I loved it. 

(Andy McKee - look him up!)

Before the concert we stopped at Sangria 46 for paella and sangria. While the paella wasn't nearly as good as what we had a Soccarat, it still had some yummy seafood. And the sangria was fabulous as usual. 

Thursday night brought even more activities! Celebrating Jaime's birthday at the Heidelberg! Who knew they had such an adorable outdoor garden in the back?! And who knew a German restaurant would have such great sangria?! 

It was super entertaining watching all of the guys get SO into their game of...THIS. It's super fun, you should give it a try. 

The next day it was time to head home for 10 days of FAMILY :)

I Got My Headstand! Cooked a Lot! Saw GORILLAS.

I'm not entirely sure why I'm so set on writing these boring, tedious "catch-up" posts, but I am determined to see them through - so bear with me. I promise this place will be a little more exciting, with better content and more creative topics sometime in the near(ish) future. 

The week on July 20th was fairly slow - which meant time to whip up some food in the kitchen!

With the cucumbers Peter dad game me from their garden, I made a delicious cucumber salad with Greek yogurt, dill, onions and some apple cider vinegar. 

I'm still mastering the skill of cooking for one (and occasionally 2 when Peter eats at my apartment) so I ended up eating this as a side allllll week long. 

I also put together one of the pre-made salads from Trader Joe's - kale and quinoa with craisins and carrots and other goodies.  To make it more summery, I added my own touch - avocado and grapefruit! 

Probably my favorite creation of the week was a bean salad. I mixed edamame, black beans, sliced plum tomatoes and onions and MANGO with an aioli garlic mustard dressing using this deliciousness from Trader Joe's + lemon juice + olive oil. The dressing credit 100% goes to Kayla, who made it for our salad while we were in Cape Cod. I would serve this over greens and top with avocado for a protein-packed lunch. 

I didn't stop there! I also made a monstrous tub of chia seed pudding (chia seeds + unsweetened vanilla almond milk + honey + cinnamon + walnuts) for breakfast all week and last but not least, CHIA SEED RHUBARB JAM using the rhubarb from the Fetzer garden. 

Making the jam was surprisingly easy - I cut the rhubarb into small pieces, added honey, simmered until it got liquidy, added the chia seeds, stirred a bunch, and VOILA! 

Thursday night was Kayla's birthday and we all went to The Jeffrey to hang out with her and her parents. 

A) The Jeffrey has a really nice outdoor area, an awesome beer selection, and a fun menu. 

B) Both time's I've been, it was pretty packed, so it's not the place to go if you're looking for something low-key. 

C) I had the Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin which was great - a grapefruit flavored beer that isn't 2% alcohol! Hooray! In fact, it's 7% ABV. 

D) Kayla's parents are awesome and it was nice getting to talk to them. 

Friday when I got out of work early I headed to Kayla's for some Dance Mom's watching and some delicious dinner cooking. 

We decided to give "Cauliflower Steaks" a shot - and it actually ended up turning out fabulously! 

We seasoned the cauliflower with an olive oil, cumin, tumeric and ginger sauce and garnished with cilantro. They were delicious! The consistency wasn't exactly steak - but it was substantial. 

Served with our cauliflower steak were zucchini noodles with pesto and quinoa. 

With our extra cauliflower, we roasted the florets with some oregano and nutritional yeast. It was SO delicious! I was shocked at how cheesy it tasted (thanks, nutritional yeast). 

As we cooked and watched Dance Moms we had another important project - juicing a watermelon to make cocktails for that night's festivities. 

We took a cut up watermelon and put the chunks into the blender. Once everything was blended and we had lots of juice, we strained it through a very fine strainer...about 5 times! By the end, we had beautiful, clear, smooth, 100% pure watermelon juice. 

We headed over to Jess's apartment with our cocktail supplies where we played games and chatted with Peter and Melissa.

The cocktail was superb, if we do say so ourselves. We mixed Crop Organic Cucumber Vodka with our fresh watermelon juice, limes, and strawberry watermelon seltzer! 

Around 10:00 we headed out for the night's main event - the anniversary performance of Nacho Bitches at the New York Comedy Club. 

This was my first NYC comedy show and I certainly hope it won't be my last. It was a fun night, with lots of laughs, especially since the four of us sat in the front row and got made fun of quite a lot throughout the different comedians sets. I loved how small and intimate the venue was! 

One of the comedians, Corinne Fisher, is from the podcast "Guys We Fucked" which you should check out if you want a good laugh and a healthy dose of female empowerment. 

Anyway, at the end of the show, Kayla got to take a birthday shot with the hosts, Corrine and Blaire. 

My one complaint? The show promised free nachos, but the nachos provided were L-A-M-E. Tostitos with a side of some sad looking melted cheese. Oh well!

The night ended way later than anticipated, after a stop at Kayla's rooftop, and Peter and I were slow to rise on Saturday morning. 

But when we eventually woke up, we headed to the gym because Peter had promised to give me my first swimming lesson. I was an eager student - with new swimsuit, goggles, ear plugs and bathing cap in hand. 

I jumped into the pool, showed him how I usually swim, and said, "Fix it." 

Trust me, he was probably thinking "Shit." 

My version of swimming isn't much better than a doggy-paddle. As soon as my face goes in the water, let alone my whole head, my chest tightens and I feel extremely anxious. 

But Peter was patient with me, hold me under my stomach while I tried to get the breathing motions down right, explaining proper stroke form with words that I could understand (ohhh, it ends in a tricep extension? K, got it). 

I can't say I had an equal amount of patience. 

Eventually, all of the different things to think about felt way too overwhelming and I told him I needed to stop before I just started getting extremely unpleasant. I knew the next step would be snapping at him, and I didn't want to do that. 

I felt bad that not only had I not gotten any type of real exercise out of the lesson, but Peter spent most of the time helping me instead of swimming his own laps. So after we changed out of our swim suits we played around in one of the studios. He killed me with a deadlift/push-up pyramid workout and we played around a little with squats and clean and presses. 

You have no idea how happy I am to have found someone to spend my Saturday morning "playing" at the gym with. Seriously. 

We finished up with some Peter-led yoga and I finally got up into my headstand all by myself!! 

Though I was desperately ready for a nap, I went back to my apartment and got ready for a long day/night of drinking/celebrating. 

First was Kayla's birthday party at Lucy's Cantina. 

Fun was had by all, especially when we realized that HUMONGOUS beer-garitas were no more expensive than a margarita on the rocks. 

On our way out from Kayla's party we stopped at Penn Plates, an outdoor food vendor area near Penn Station. I was DYING to try the California Earth Mama Salad - with arugula, grilled corn, sunflower seeds, watermelon radish and a ginger and sesame dressing. The pictures I had seen of it on Instagram were SO PRETTY (yes, that's why I wanted to try it). This salad was at the Jicama stand, which I've tried before. While I really wanted the salad with shrimp, $14 for a salad after spending the whole day out was a little steep - so I ordered mine with avocado. 

Turns out, they were out of avocado so he asked if I wanted chicken instead. Free chicken? Sure. 

(This is just the sample - I somehow didn't take a picture of mine. Perhaps it was the giant margaritas...)

Bad decision on my part. Whatever the chicken was seasoned in was SO salty. Not just like "Wow, someone was a little heavy handed on the salt." Burning my throat, completely overpowering everything else, level salty. I was so sad! From what I managed to eat that hadn't been poisoned by the sodium-soaked chicken was good, but overall the salad was pretty much ruined. 

Sadness. 

Later that night we went to a going away party for our friend Pete from November Project - deserting us for the West Coast. 

And last, we ended up back at Jaime's apartment to say goodnight to the birthday gal. 

Though the weekend had already been rather eventful, Sunday had more fun in store. 

Peter and I went to the BRONX ZOO and it was so much fun. We walked a TON but it was a gorgeous day and there were so many great moments. 

Like the gorillas, DUH. There were little BABIES and one sitting so so close to us and I was melting and loving every second and Peter had to literally be like, "OK Lauren, it's time to go." Noooo, just let me sit here with the gorillas forever!! 

The sea lions were going CRAY when we got to them. We realized it was because their feeding time was coming up, and they definitely knew it. That's crazy to me, they're so smart! 

These guys were legit YELLING. They sounded like those hysterical videos of goats screaming. And then there was one little baby that didn't know how to do it yet and every time he tried it sounded like he was about to throw up. Peter was imitating it and I was losing it. I don't know how everyone at the sea lion exhibit wasn't pissing themselves. 

Mr. Turtle was FLIPPED OVER on his back when we got to him. Talk about struggle city. A lemur looked on as the turtle flailed his legs and tail back and forth violently - that little lemur knew exactly what was happening but didn't do anything to help. Eventually, a zoo keeper came into the enclosure and flipped him over. 

The leopards were out and playful and it's so awesome how they act just like giant version of a regular house cat! Watching them play was just like watching Doodle and his friend play at the Meow Parlour! 

That night I readied for the week ahead, which would bring lots of activities in my last week in NYC before my family vacation. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

BAEgels on the Beach

Back in New York after our girls weekend in Cape Cod, I went to cheer for Peter at a Tuesday night 5K in Hoboken. It was right on the water, a good group of November Project friends were running - and DAMN everyone killed it! Jeanie and Pete Kruse both won awards!

(Jeanie is STRONG)

Peter was finally feeling like his speed was coming back after being so sick in May. 6:38 pace? Yup, I'd say that's fast.

(Are you a running model or something?)

And Emily was having a ball running one of her favorite races on her home turf!

After the race there was beer and wine and a band which we enjoyed for awhile before heading out for some Taco Tuesday food and beverage up the street. 

On Thursday, Peter took me out for a delicious dinner at Soccarat Paella Bar in Chelsea. Named after the crispy, crunchyness that forms in the cooking of paella, Soccarat definitely lived up to its name. The crunchy/burnt race was definitely our favorite part. 

We opted for the Arroz Negro - the rice is black from the squid ink! I was hesitant at first, but Peter wanted to be adventurous and I was sold on the shrimp, calamari, scallops, and fish that it included.

This paella was massive - yet we were not deterred. Essentially, we finished the entire thing.  Paella here is charged per person ($25-$33) with a 2 person minimum. 

Pre-paella we ordered two appetizers. 

Peter's choice were the bacon wrapped dates stuffed with cheese, almonds and a roasted apple puree. Not that they weren't my choice too - I had just been trying (and failing) at cleaning up my diet. Obviously, I ate my share of bacon wrapped dates. 

My one request was "NO patatas bravas." I find them horribly cliche and boring. 

So I chose the Milhohas de cordero - lamb terrine, spinach, potato and red peppers. To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect. I just knew I liked lamb. And spinach, potatoes and red peppers. 

Well, turns out I ended up loving it (and Peter was a fan too). Except we couldn't figure out exactly what we were eating. I later asked my dad to explain what a terrine was and he said sometimes it's held together using gelatin. UGH. I was hoping that wasn't how ours was made. I told him it seemed like there was an egg-y consistency, and he said that could be it too - so that's what we're going to go with. 

Obviously there was a pitcher of sangria included in the meal. 

Followed by a walk along the High Line! I always love taking pictures there, especially right before sunset when the lighting is juuuuust perfect. 

On Friday I enjoyed a "Summer Friday" which meant I got out of work at 2 p.m. instead of 5.

After getting some stuff done at the apartment, I met up with Peter and his coworkers near Penn Station and a nice new outdoor area for some oil cans (aka Foster's!) 

('Ows about we plow the froth off a coupla cold ones?)

Later that us and the girls met up with Jess because her mom and grandmother were visiting from Ohio! We went to Rosa Mexicano and enjoyed a few more drinks. It was so nice getting to meet them. 

After some sleep we woke up and made our way to the Brooklyn Brewery for a day of beer tasting. The line was pretty long and it was HOT out. Eventually, we got in and had a half hour to kill until our tour. We bought some beer tickets and got to sampling. 5 beers is $25, which wasn't bad considering the quality of the beer! We tried three before we went on the tour. 

Our tour guide killed it. He was great, we learned the basics of a brewery tour, and also some fun stories that pertain specifically to Brooklyn Brewery. 

Afterwards, we finished two more beer samples. 

The bar area is pretty cool because you can bring your own food in and people had huge spreads with games. It would be a fun place for a birthday party! 

On our way out we perused Smorgasburg and got some odds and ends as the packed up. We sat down by the water for awhile and it was really nice enjoying a view of the skyline, looking at the city that I have spent barely any time in during the last couple of crazy weeks. 

We headed back to Manhattan, met up with Melissa, and entered the yet to be moved into apartment of Alex for some NYC Tri poster making/beer drinking/pizza eating. I was a happy camper. 

Naturally, when the pizza was eaten, the poster board was all used, the beer was all drank - we headed to a nearby bar. 

Sound like enough fun and activity for a weekend? 

Nope. Still had Sunday, and we got up quite early to make our way to Peter's family's house on Long Island. 

After a stop for bagels (we were on Long Island, so DUH) we hit the beach! 

(ILY)

It was PACKED and super hot, so we didn't last for very long, but I'm never one to turn down water sand and sun. Or bagels. 

That night Peter's dad grilled tons of meat, prepared one of his A+ salads with fresh ingredients from the garden, and his mom baked a killer strawberry rhubarb pie. The caipirinhas (cat purinas as I like to pronounce them) were delicious and the conversation was easy and entertaining as usual. I really do enjoy spending time with Peter and his family - they're cool peeps. 

I left that night with some cucumbers from the garden and my own rhubarb to experiment in the kitchen with! 

I also left with some pictures of this pretty guy. 

And with THAT another summer week came to a close. 

Books! Read Them!

I'm taking a quick break from catching up on life (yes, I realize it's almost the end of August and I'm still recounting the first half of July...) to fill you in on some books I've read recently that you should definitely check out!

(I used to sit and read on my fire escape!)

1) To Be a Runner: How Racing Up Mountains, Running with the Bulls, or Just Taking On a 5-K Makes You a Better Person (and the World a Better Place) by Martin Dugard 
This book is a bunch of essays that relate the way you live life to running. And it's great. 

“To be a runner is to learn continual life lessons. To be a coach is not just to teach these lessons but also to feel them in the core of your marrow. The very act of surpassing personal limits in training and racing will bend the mind and body toward a higher purpose for the rest of my runners' lives. Settling for mediocrity-settling instead of pushing-those who learn to be the best version of themselves know the secret to a full life.”

2)The Long Run: One Man's Attempt to Regain His Athletic Career-And His Life-by Running the New York City Marathon by Matt Long

This book is super inspirational and I especially enjoyed it because the author is from the Upper East Side and I can relate to a ton of the things he talks about in the book! Loops of Central Park, training on Randall's Island - not to mention he's the owner of 3 popular NYC bars. This book also has this little voice in the back of my head whispering "Iron Man" a lot these days. 

“What did I discover during my solo—besides learning to unwrap my energy bar ahead of time? That you ask yourself a lot of questions when you're alone on a bike for that long. One question more than others: Why the heck am I doing this? When I was done, I think I had found the answer: For the satisfaction that comes with pushing your body to the breaking point and conquering the unknown.” 

3) Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
I'm sure most people have already heard about this book, but it's about the Tarahumara Indians who can run FAR and FAST. I love the way it's written like a cross between an investigative journalism piece and also a story. “There's something so universal about that sensation, the way running unites our two most primal impulses: fear and pleasure. We run when we're scared, we run when we're ecstatic, we run away from our problems and run around for a good time.” 

4) Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself by Rich Roll 
“The prize never goes to the fastest guy,” Chris replied. “It goes to the guy who slows down the least.” True in endurance sports. And possibly even truer in life.” 

5) Running on Empty: An Ultramarathoner’s Story of Love, Loss, and a Record-Setting Run Across America
I'm not quite done with this yet, but it's incredible and I still can't wrap my head around the mileage Marshall Ulrich covered. Or the fact that he's not the only one to have done it. Love the historical pieces of this book as well. 

“Keep going, one foot in front of the other, millions of times. Face forward and take the next step. Don’t flinch when the road or gets rough, you fall down, you miss a turn, or the bridge you planned to cross has collapsed. Do what you say you’ll do, and don’t let anything or anyone stop you. Deal with the obstacles as they come. Move on. Keep going, no matter what, one foot in front of the other, millions of times.” 

Is it a prerequisite to be a book about running/fitness you must use a colon in your title? 

I will say, after reading all 5 of these books it's shocking how similar the stories are. But yet they never get boring to me, because they're so relate-able. Sure they can get a little dramatic, a little cheesy.  But that's what running can do to you! It's certainly turned me into a weepy mess!

Since I'm not running at the moment (again, more on that some day...) this is apparently my coping mechanism - read as much about running as I possibly can. 

Family & Friends & The Cape

This summer has been great because even though I feel like I'm ALWAYS missing my family, I did get to see them a good amount. 

The week after Fourth of July, my parents and sister came into the city on Thursday night to go see Something Rotten - I had missed Mother's Day, Father's Day, my mom's birthday and my sister's birthday so this was our time to celebrate! 

When I got out of work I met them for appetizers and drinks at China Grill, a family favorite. They have a great happy hour special from 4-7 where drinks and small plates are $7 (yes, including the China Blossom, my all time favorite cocktail!) 

After that we walked to the theater and saw Something Rotten which was pretty laugh out loud funny, despite our nose bleed seats (sorry guys!) I'm just a huge Brian D'Arcy James fan, I think he's great. 

After the show we went to The Marshal which, I don't think anyone loved, and I probably should have just gone to by myself since I wanted to order lots of veggies and my family wasn't feelin' it. We also had to spring through a monsoon to get there which kind of dampened the mood (get it?) 

The best part of the meal was the burrata - served with pesto, sea salt, and summer squash. I also ordered a peach roasted with brown sugar, walnuts and blue cheese. 

Sadly, I had to be up early the next morning to leave for a girls weekend in Cape Cod, so I couldn't spend the night in the hotel with my family :( Saying goodbye always sucks, but it was a fun night as usual! 

Early Friday morning we were meeting to get an uber and head to pick up our rental car at LaGuardia. After an entertaining ride where we couldn't find the car rental place and Rebecca grabbed our driver's arm, we picked up our car and hit the road! 

The traffic gods were on our side and it was smooooth sailing to Cape Cod and to Kayla's family's house. 

(Pretty smooth...)

We were totally spoiled by a fully stocked kitchen when we arrived and pretty quickly we were seated comfortably on the beach with a delicious spread in front of us - an AMAZING mandarin orange couscous salad, an assortment of chips, and an arugula/watermelon salad. 

The water was beautifulllllllll and not too wavy which is just my speed. 

On our way home from the beach we stopped at Great Pond for a rinse in the fresh water. It was beautiful! Totally my favorite kind of place. Secluded and peaceful, right in the middle of nature. I was happy as a clam. 

That night, we all had WAY too much fun cooking in a giant kitchen as we drank and cooked and listened to Kayla talk backwards and talked and laughed and it was great. 

We made veggie burgers, corn on the cob, an amazing salad, and Melissa made funfetti and chocolate peanut butter donuts! And Kayla made Nutella and walnut rugelach! 

Since Friday was pretty much perfect, we did it all over again on Saturday! Up for a delicious breakfast and out to the beach where we again feasted on couscous salad and our own tuna/avocado salad creation.

We went for an even long swim at the pond this time! 

Dinner on Saturday was grilled sweet potatoes chicken sausages for the omnivores and eggs for the veggie-heads, blackbeans and other deliciousness. 

Things got silly that night and I was again reminded how damn happy I am that the 6 of us met. 

Sunday Rebecca slaved away on breakfast which was A+++.  Some sweet potato/rosemary potato hash, avocado, toast, eggs and CHAMPAGNE. 

While Rebecca slaved over the stove, I slaved over the refrigerator writing this masterpiece. 

We headed to the beach one last time, soaked up a little more sun, went home to pack up, and stopped for a yummy seafood lunch before we bid Cape Code farewell. 

Our journey home was longer, but not unbearable - especially with the nice long break in New Haven for Pepe's pizza! It felt nice just knowing I was in New Haven. I still miss Quinnipiac a ton! 

It was a late return and a rough Monday morning, but it was seriously one of the most relaxing, fun weekend's I've had all summer! 

Kayla, please stay my friend because I'm already counting down the days until our next trip to the Cape! 

THANKS KAYLA!!

Through the 4th

I was home in the city just long enough to unpack my bags before heading to Connecticut on Saturday morning to celebrate my favorite ginger's 25th birthday! 

Allison pushed off her birthday celebration from the beginning of May all the way until the last weekend in June since it was the first time I was home for a weekend...because she's the best. 

It was an awesome day where we rented a van that drove us to two different CT wineries before dropping us back off at Allison's apartment. 

I made my way back to Long Island that night hoping to make my cousin's high school graduation party, but that didn't end up happening.

I DID get to see Morgan, home for a rare break from med school before her new year in Denver. She BETTER get her butt to a November Project workout soon! Morgan and I always pick up right where we left off, which is the best feeling. 

Monday and Tuesday I took personal days otherwise they would have expired. Tuesday I leisurely headed back into the city for a date with Peter at MEOW PARLOUR! It was really clean inside, the kitties were super cute, the cookies that you can buy from the cafe around the corner were delicious, and we stayed for an hour since Doodle was thoroughly entertaining us. If you're looking to adopt a cat - go here! Or, if you just want to play with kitties. 

After Meow Parlour we watched some women's world cup soccer from The Loreley. 

I only had 1.5 days of work that week because we got out of work early on Thursday and had off on Friday for Fourth of July weekend. 

As soon as work was over on Thursday I booked it to Penn Station and boarded the train for Montauk. Dear lord, it was craziness. I've never seen so many people on the LIRR in my entire life. 

The ride was loooong. My parents picked me up and drove Jess and Kevin to their house, where I would be staying Friday and Saturday nights! But Thursday night was bonding time with modge and podge, who were also staying in Montauk for the weekend. 

We went to eat at a new restaurant called The Muse. The decor was awesome - open, airy, beachy, with really awesome floors that looked like old worn wood panels but totally weren't. The bar lit up cool colors, too.  

First, we split the Tuna "Menage a Trois" 

1) Ahi Tuna Tartar atop Vegetable Tabouli - For the Tabouli, they used Israeli Couscous which added a unique texture
2) Blackened Tuna Lollipop topped with Candied Wasabi Crust on Whipped Avocado - I'm not a huge fan of wasabi flavored things, so this wasn't my favorite
3) Hot Stone Seared Tuna Carpaccio with Seaweed Salad - This was probably my favorite, because I love seaweed salad, and because it came with a spicy mayo sauce. 

Next, we split the Mussels a la Muse. 

Oh. My. God.
These was by far the most amazing mussel dish I've ever had. When it comes to mussels, it's not really the mussel that's the impressive part, but what surrounds the little guys.  This dish came with a Prosecco Butter Sauce (uh, yes), Grilled Artichoke Hearts, Cured Tomatoes, Giganta Beans and grilled Italian bread. 

The combination of artichoke hearts and beans (with some Parmigiano-Reggiano on top for good measure) was so hearty and filling and the Prosecco Butter Sauce was addictive. 

I've been to Flex Mussels in the city, which specializes in bowls of different themed mussels, but The Muse had them beat! 

For dinner I ordered the "Bacon N Eggs Breakfast Salad" which, I'll just cut to the chase, was a disappointment. 

I should have listened to the waitress when she said she preferred the Summer Apple Salad. Or, realistically, just stopped trying to be good by ordering a salad and ordered something from the real menu. Oh well! Luckily, I was stuffed from the appetizers already and my parents obviously let me eat as much as I wanted from their plates! 

The salad came with grilled pork belly and a poached egg over frissee tossed in a maple cider vinaigrette with French toast croutons. 

The pork belly was fatty and I really didn't like it. Other than that, the rest of the salad was great! Yolk from the egg mixed with the maple cider vinaigrette was delicious and the French taste croutons were like little bites of dessert mixed into my salad. 

I honestly can't remember which of the fish entrees my mom ordered, and looking at the menu I can't even match it up to this picture. It's driving me slightly crazy. 

I want to say it was the Cajun Spiced Atlantic Cod served on Charred L.I. Corn & Saffron Hummus with House Grown Micro Greens, Honey, Black Vinegar Gastrique, Avocado Aioli, Chili Oil, and Fried Hominy.

My dad ordered what I peer-pressured him into ordering - "Muse's World Famous Sausage." 

The pinwheel pork sausage had roast tomato, artichoke & feta-cheese inside of it and was served with sweet potato green apple chutney and a honey mustard barbecue sauce. 

We didn't do dessert, but I did walk next door for some froyo afterwards and my dad, who isn't usually a sweets person, was totally blown away by it. Maybe now he'll be a little more understanding when my froyo comes to $9. 

My drink was tasty too - I think some kind of watermelon drink but I can't remember exactly. 

Overall, I don't think any of us were absolutely BLOWN AWAY by our entrees, but we WERE obsessed with those mussels, and the general feel of the restaurant was really nice. 

After dinner we headed to the Sloppy Tuna for a drink at the bar and to meet up with my parents friends before heading to bed. 

(My best friend, for real.)


In the morning, we woke up and DAMN was the view nice. We were right. on. the. ocean. Beautiful. 

I struggled to run two miles (we'll get to all of that at some other time...) and went for a yoga class! 

(My mom was standing IN the hotel room when she took this picture!)

When I got back, my parents and I headed to the hotel's restaurant for a free breakfast and I got some egg whites with home fries, toast and fruit. 

Then, BEACH!

It was perfect out, and I felt no need to jump in the water. 

Peter and my friends were all on their way out to Montauk from the city and I was waiting to head over to Jess and Kevin's until they arrived. Unfortunately, the LIRR was even more of a mess on Friday than it had been on Thursday night, and they had had to get on a bus since there were thousands of people and hundreds that couldn't fit on the train. 

Eventually, I knew they were close so I said goodbye to my parents and they dropped me off at the house. Once everyone arrived we ate some lunch and went to the beach for some late afternoon sun and relaxation. That night, we pigged out on pizza, drank a LOT of alcohol, played some games, attempted to go to Sloppy Tuna, and generally just had a great time. 

Fun story - the line for Sloppy Tuna was SO LONG and when we got there with a group of 20 of us, we knew there was no way we were all getting in. But my parents had been waiting in there for me for about an hour and I felt awful! Well, as usual, my dad had made some friends, and I was able to go up to the bouncer and get in! I saw my parents for a little bit before heading out to meet back up with the group. 

True Life: My parents are so much cooler than me! 

Surprisingly, everyone was up and out at a decent hour the next morning for a Fourth of July spent on the beach. I wasn't feeling so hot, but eventually, felt good enough to eat some ice cream at John's Drive In. I also went with Peter to John's Pancakes where he had a CANNOLI PANCAKE! It was literally rolled up and stuffed with cannoli cream and it was probably the best pancake I've ever had (aside from my mom's banana pancakes, DON'T WORRY MOM!) 

Later that afternoon we went to a bar before heading back to the house for pulled pork sandwiches and more games and drinks. 

Not ready to give up the sun and sand, Sunday morning we again got up bright and early and headed to the beach for a few hours before we had to head home on the good old LIRR. It was a long day of travel, but totally work it for the tan I got that weekend! 

Finally bronzed! 

VIVA LAS VEGAS

After being gone for 3 weeks, I was beyond excited that for my next work trip, Peter would be coming along for the journey! 

The trip got off to a wonderful start when I realized we would be leaving from the Delta terminal in JFK that has a World Bean kiosk which serves AVOCADO TOAST AND PEANUT BUTTER BANANA TOAST. 

Obviously, I insisted that we order and split both. 

(Best airport breakfast you could ask for!)

We managed to maneuver our seats so that we were sitting next to each other for the flight. I napped and then woke up and started watching Singing in the Rain - except that we landed with like 10 minutes to go in the movie so I'll NEVER KNOW WHAT HAPPENS. 

Immediately upon landing we hit up the liquor store in the baggage claim area for some Coronas and vodka. When we went up to the cashier to pay, we were poured a shot. Welcome to Vegas!

Another sign we were in Vegas: The incredibly long check-in line that greeted us when we arrived at the MGM Grand. Luckily, it moved fairly quickly. We dropped our stuff off at the room and set out for some lunch.

I started my trip on the healthy side - knowing that would probably only  last until about dinner time. But weird fact: I've found the salads in Vegas to be surprisingly wonderful. In fact, a salad from the Wynn last year made my list of Life Changing Salads! 

We got lunch at Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill - I ordered the Chopped Vegetable salad. 

Next? POOL obviously. We lasted about 5 minutes laying out before we needed to jump in and cool off.  That Vegas heat is brutal man. 

Eventually, we set out to explore the Strip. 

Naturally, our first stop was for a margarita and mango-habanero guacamole at Hussong's in Mandalay Bay - where legend has it, the first margarita was created by bartender Don Carlos Orozco. Yeah yeah. K. It was a good marg, but I'm a little sad we didn't have the guts to try the...ready...PB&J margarita! (Sauza Reposado tequila, crème de cassis, muddled blackberries, and a peanut butter rim.)

We also made a stop at the pyramid-looking casino (The Luxor) because my boyfriend is an engineer ;)  And stopped for a song at the Bellagio Fountains because, Vegas. 

After some wandering, we heard live guitar music and followed it to the rooftop bar at Cabo Wabo Cantina.  There was live music from a guy doing some great covers, and $20 buckets of beer. We were very content at the end of the night. 

The next morning we got up at a decent hour and decided to do a deck of cards workout in the hotel room instead of paying the resort fee to use the gym. It ended up being pretty legit, and lasting longer than we thought it would. But we certainly worked up our appetite for a late breakfast. 

We stayed in our hotel and sat down at Avenue Cafe - which would end up being Peter's go-to spot in the mornings while I was working. 

Both of us were kind of sort of drooling over the menu - Red Velvet Pancakes? Blueberry Almond Crunch Pancakes? Pulled Pork Egg Sandwich? I HATE THE CHOICE BETWEEN SWEET AND SAVORY! 

So I went rogue and ordered the Kale Salad. I knew there would be plenty of time for indulging later in the trip. Plus, this Kale Salad sounded pretty great - apples, cranberries, green beans, toasted walnuts and a mustard vinaigrette. I made the mistake of forgetting to ask for the dressing on the side, so the salad was a little soupy, but the flavor was great and I was yet again pleasantly surprised with Vegas' salad game. 

Peter had one of the egg skillets and it was KILLER. 

We spent the day lounging by the pool and by lounging by the pool I mean profusely sweating and mainly sitting IN the pool looking at all the crazy people on E. 

That night, we again set out wandering, drinking along the Strip and exploring the different hotels. Eventually, we stopped by happy hour at Coyote Ugly in New York New York and while I have never been to the one in NYC, we ended up having a great time despite the somewhat-trashy feel of the place. Bras hanging from the ceiling, girls dancing on the bar - I probably should have felt slightly uncomfortable as girls lined up to have shots poured in their mouths but instead, I just enjoyed the entertainment. And especially enjoyed Peter convincing one of the dancers to Rick-Roll the bar. Worse than Rick-Rolling them? Playing Photograph from the juke box. Sorry, not sorry. Except kind of sorry, because we had to sit through it too. 

Dinner was also in New York New York at Gonzalez y Gonzalez. Repetitive name theme I suppose. And whoah- do you think Peter and I like margaritas and Mexican at all?

The guac here had CRAB in it - big pieces too. It was legit. 

Next stop was to listen to some piano at the dueling piano bar in New York New York before calling it a night. I had work in the morning, after all!

Monday morning we woke up nice and early for my first official day of training for the Suffolk County Marathon! 4 miles in the stifling heat. It was pretty miserable, but we got it done and then I went to work. 

The rest of the days we were in Vegas were pretty similar - wake up, exercise, go to work while Peter explored or chilled at the pool, and then we met up at the end of the day for drinks and some unbelievably awesome dinners. 

Highlights for Peter included the NHL Social Media scavenger hunt where he came in 3rd place and won tickets to see La Reve! 

He also got a selfie with Alexander Ovechkin at the pool one day. They really look like they're BFF. 

The highlight of the trip for me was working with Jonathan Pitre and his mom to make sure he had a wonderful experience at the Awards show. Please, watch this video and consider donating! Jonathan and his mom were so incredibly sweet and I was so happy that I got to know them and learn about their story. My aunts nephew through marriage also has this disease, When I'm back and running, I would love to find a race that supports this cause or fundraise for DEBRA through a larger race. The biggest take-away from meeting Jonathan was that he is just Jonathan - a 14 year old who loves hockey, is super polite, laughs easily, and has a great attitude. 

You're probably all wondering where we ate while in Vegas. 

Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak was the first big dinner. As usual, we split a majority of the appetizers on the menu, each got an entree, and sampled more desserts than is ever necessary. 

I like to call this, "The dinner where Peter realized why his girlfriend was researching juice cleanses and swearing she had gained 15 pounds in the past month." 

Our waiter had SUCH a funny accent. 

I'm ashamed to say I have no recollection of what I ordered as an entree, and I also have zero pictures of the meal. 

I do remember that no one wanted the side of heirloom cauliflower. What gives? But we DID have copious amounts of sides -  including mushrooms, grits, risotto, and who knows what else. 

Looking at the cocktail menu, I can only assume that the two drinks I ordered were:
Pomma Rita: tequila, lime juice, pomegranate juice and Cointreau
Craft Champagne Cocktail: St. Germain, Sparkling Wine

Another night, we went for tapas at a restaurant in the Cosmopolitan called Jaleo. 

Again, not the best recollection of exactly what we ordered. What I DO remember is they tried charging us like $200 for a paella that would have been THIS BIG: 

(Swimming pool of paella) 

Also, they served the chicken croquettes IN A SHOE with zero explanation: 

We just went with it. 

The sangria was yummy and we ordered multiple pitchers. 

These tuna cones were delicious. 

(And my photography was awful...)

Cheese platters are cool. 

(Marcona almonds are the shit) 

After the Awards show, we went to Tao, which we have here in NYC too. It's one of my parent's favorites, so I've been spoiled and taken there a handful of times. It's always delicious. 

Of course we ordered some sushi for the table, some edamame, Drunken Lobster Pad Thai, and I FINALLY got my cauliflower.

On our last morning we got breakfast and our favorite breakfast place (Peter ate there every morning I'm pretty sure - and once he delivered me a Red Velvet pancake that was legit a mini CAKE and so moist and amazing.) 

I can't remember what I ended up ordering but I DO remember that we got delicious Bloody Mary's. 

On our way out, I bet $5 on a Wizard of Oz slot machine and won $50! Score. 

Unfortunately, our plane was delaying 8 HOURS and we thought we would never make it home. The good thing? Airports have bars. And Chili's. Which have nachos. 

We made the best of the delay and I even won 2 complimentary cocktails for the flight by answering a trivia question correctly (What's the difference between a Broadway and off-Broadway show? Answer: The number of seats in the theater!) 

(Delayed = bored)

And there you have it! 

Vegas, see ya next June! 

Guac Off: Lemon vs. Lime

Have you ever found yourself in a debate with friends over the superior citrus with which to flavor your guacamole? 

No? 

Well, you and your friends are clearly not avocado aficionados. 

To settle the debate, we had a Mexican potluck the day after I returned from my crazy long work trip. Jaime (team lemon) and Rebecca (team lime) whipped up their ideal guacs while the rest of us assembled the accouterments. I was very happy with my decision to bring mango to add to the tacos. 

We had a blind vote, during which even Jaime voted for the lime guacamole expertly mashed and made by Rebecca. 

The lemon, though not the victor, had it's own unique, light taste that we all agreed would be delicious smeared on some fish. 

A week or so later, we were shocked to hear that there are people who claim you shouldn't add ANY citrus to your guacamole, because it masks the taste of the avocado! You can read more about this blasphemy here. 

So what are you? Team lime? Team lemon? Team citrus-free? 

To finish our festive dinner our very own donut master Melissa made MARGARITA DONUTS. There was legit TEQUILA and lime zest in the ICING! 

They were phenomenal and it was so wonderful to be reunited with the gang before heading out of the city for yet another week of work travel. 

Back to Tampa, Back to Chicago

DAY TWELVE - June 11
CHI --> Tampa 

Over the course of our travels I earned a reputation for being highly irritable and cranky on travel days. True, we only got about 4 hours of sleep each night before flying - but I don't think it justified my permanent scowl. Everything pissed me off. The lines, the check-in process, the overweight baggage fees. And towards the end, I realized that the crankiness may have had something to do with the fact that travel days were the only days where I wasn't starting the morning with a workout - meaning I was starting my day without any endorphins. 

Morning exercise people, it's magic, I swear! 

When we got back "home" to our hotel in Tampa, we all set out for some lunch at "our" diner down the street. The diner owner was from Long Island, go figure! There were more sweet potato fries with maple dipping sauce, don't you worry.

That night, a group of us went out and split a bunch of appetizers at a place called Taps, where the guys could watch the NBA Final. 

The beer selection was enormous (with a name like Taps, that might seem pretty obvious), and I was so excited to try Wells Banana Bread Beer! It was quite delicious. 

I didn't do a very good job documenting the appetizers that we all split, so I'll just write about what I can remember. 

There was some bruschetta. 

There was some specialty popcorn with asiago cheese and truffle oil that I took one whiff of and immediately wanted no part of.

Lettuce wraps. 

Fish tacos. 

Bean dip trio. 

Tuna Crudo (I think raw tuna in some form may have been a part of every single dinner this entire trip - we kind of like it). 

What I do remember clearly was the waiter coming over and making a comment about how quickly we had "destroyed" the food. 

Rude sir. We haven't eaten in days!! Er...

I also clearly remember the dessert, in typical Lauren fashion. 

Belgian Waffles with vanilla ice cream, Nutella and whipped cream. I don't think it's possible to mess that up. 

But what I have slowly been coming to appreciate is bread pudding, and Taps' was pretty damn good! Maybe that's because it was apricot flavored and came with caramel drizzle and vanilla ice cream and sliced almonds. 

Taps also made an attempt at one of my other favorite dessert delicacies - donuts. 

Tried, and fell very, very flat. Their vanilla and red velvet donuts had absolutely no flavor, and their chocolate ones just tasted bland. They were dry and disappointing. That's what she said? 

DAY THIRTEEN - June 12 

This was our one true "day off" and I was sure to take advantage of it! 

Despite not really feeling so hot about running, there was a little coffee shop/breakfast place that I was dying to try - and running is my preferred method of transportation. 

So I was up and out and running to Buddy Brew! I may have passed it and had to backtrack and run way more than planned, but I'm glad I didn't give up because this place was absolutely adorable. 

I would love to open a cute, artsy little shop like this some day. 

(Any place that specializes in breakfast foods is automatically on my good side. And a teal color scheme? YAS)

Living  in NYC, I would never had thought that my favorite avocado toast would be found in Tampa. But dear lord, this was amazing. 

WHY MUST IT BE IN FLORIDA?!

At Buddy Brew, their avocado toast comes with chili and lime, and there was definitely sea salt on it as well. 

I customized mine to include an olive oil poached egg because EVERYTHING is better with an egg on top. Duh. I wanted everything on the menu, but I was more than happy with my choice.

I also got a delicious cold brew coffee before running back to my hotel with a full and slightly queasy stomach. Worth it. 

As soon as I got back, I changed in about 2 seconds flat and met a few coworkers in the lobby to head out for some stand up paddle boarding. 

When we got to the dock, a man informed us that there was no stand-up paddle boarding despite the sign. "Maybe today's their grand opening, but I haven't seen no stand up paddle boarding here." Thanks for your sarcasm, dude. 

So SUP didn't happen. But kayaking did! The guy who got us all ready to go out told us if we paddled in one direction we would come to a lighthouse (he also told us not to worry about the "1 hour" limit). When we got to the lighthouse, we were super disappointed. 

(In reality, this lighthouse was probably 10 feet tall)

I love kayaking, because it's active but it's also relaxing. 

When we got back to the dock, we got some cocktails before walking back and seeing SO MANY PRECIOUS DOLPHINS! Then we chilled at the pool for a little bit. Then, it was off for a manicure (that set me back $25 unknowingly - but lasted a good long while!) 

That night, we got dinner in the hotel restaurant that I wasn't a huge fan of, but c'est la vie. 

DAY FOURTEEN - June 13 

Game day! 

DAY FIFTEEN - June 14 

Tampa --> CHI 

Probably my least amount of sleep the night before a travel day. 

When we got to the hotel we couldn't check into our rooms yet, so we went out in search of brunch. I was dying to go to Little Goat (which everyone the entire trip referred to as "Goat Burger") but when we got there, the wait was super long (I have great taste, what can I say?)

But it was OK because we ended up eating at The Allis inside the lobby of the Soho House Hotel that was totalllllly my kinda place. Super trendy looking and the menu? One of each PUHLEASE?

Sadly, decisions had to be made. 

The first decision was easy. 

Bloody Mary. Boom. Definitely a let down. But I moved on. 

Americano. Yum. 

Did I dare try a new avocado toast after just discovering close to perfection at Buddy Brew?

Indeed, I did. 

Allis' avo toast was good, but not Buddy Brew. You can just tell by looking at it. Cubed avocado instead of slices. A poached egg with the yolk just a little too well done. 

But they made up for it with their super grain bowl with quinoa and goji berries. Flax seeds, blueberries, shredded coconut. It was heavenly. 

The meal, paired with the setting made for a great brunch experience. 

A bunch of people ordered the "Mean Sandwich" which came with egg, bacon, taleggio cheese, cheddar cheese, aioli, avocado and jalapeno. They were even asking the waitress for the aioli recipe and considered ordering seconds. 

I'm glad we were at Allis on a week day, because their breakfast menu is more extensive than their weekend brunch menu. I could have easily ordered anything on this menu. If you're in Chicago you should definitely check it out (Banana, almond butter and flax seeds on multigrain anyone?) 

After brunch, I STILL couldn't get into a room, so I left my bags with the front desk and wandered over to Marshall's, which was dangerously close to the hotel. Woops, ended up buying a few things that weren't necessary, but they were CUTE. 

Then, why not stop for a donut after a giant brunch? Tina had told me about a place called Stan's that had - wait for it - a Biscoff Banana stuffed donut. 

It was sickeningly sweet, with lots layers and textures inside, and distinct Biscoff and banana tastes. It was very fitting that Tina alerted me to this specific donut, because she's the one who introduced me to Biscoff in the first place by making me try THIS sorcery - fudge made with just Biscoff spread and vanilla icing. It was then I realized that Biscoff cookies are the ones they serve on Delta flights and everything clicked and I was like oh shit yeah wow I've loved this stuff forever. It's crack. And I don't mind being addicted. 

I ate it when I got back to the hotel and finally got a room. Immediately after eating it, I passed out in a sugar coma for a few hours, exhausted from yet another endorphin-less travel day. 

When I woke up, it was the moment I had been waiting for - to be reunited with my long lest BFF who used to live in the city and work with me. 

Tina and I headed to a cute bar with an outdoor area and met up with Staci. We proceeded to talk and laugh as if we had never been separated - the best kind of friendship there is. 

Saying goodbye so quickly sucked, but I'LL SEE YA IN NYC SOON, RIGHT STACI?! 

At this point in the night, coworkers will still putting together a plan for dinner, but I didn't have the patience so I stopped at Whole Foods, loaded up on the salad bar, and enjoyed it from the comfort of my hotel room. 

DAY SIXTEEN - June 15 

Woke up like, "WHOAH WE MIGHT BE GOING HOME TOMORROW!" 

As such, I thought it was appropriate to wrap up the trip eating like the fat kids that we love to be while on the road. A dozen donuts from Glazed and Infused was in order, yes? Oh yes. 

I walked over and picked out a few drool-worthy sounded ones. 

Unfortunately, none of these really blew me out of the water. In fact, I can't recall one thing about them, specifically. I know there was a peanut butter and jelly one, a Cajeta fried ice cream one, a bacon maple one, and a red velvet one. 

(Why can't I be as photogenic as donuts are?)

That night before the game started, we had to evacuate our trailer because of a tornado watch! Good think we had these ponchos to protect us!

Jokes. My poncho blew off of my completely and I looked like a drowned rat. With very wet feet. 

(Dress I got on my trip to Marshall's!)

By the end of the night, a dynasty created when the Chicago Blackhawks hoisted the Stanley Cup yet again! It was really awesome to be there for my first Stanley Cup presentation! 

And that brought my longest-work-trip-ever to a close!

Thanks for reading along!

Spoiler Alert: I left on another work trip 4 days later. Coming up next! 

Chi-Town

Want to read about days 1-5? Here you go.

DAY SIX - June 5
I spent the morning at the arena working, with a quick break for a team picture and some playing in the fountain. We had been wanting to do this since the moment we saw it, and it was just as fun as we hoped it would be. 

Then, it was time to go abut 30 minutes away to see my grandma and two aunts who I haven't seen in way too long. My grandma had a stroke over a year ago, and she's living in Florida in an assisted living home instead of 20 minutes down the road from my house on Long Island. It makes me really sad to think about her there, and to think that my mom and I can't see her whenever we want. Getting older sucks, especially when you realize that the time you have left with the people you love is running out. 

For a few days, I wasn't very hopeful that my aunt was going to be able to convince my gran to make the journey to Tampa, but I was so so relieved when I got the call that she would be coming. We went across the street to dinner it was just so nice being with everyone. Of course, it's hard to see Gran frail and not able to do things she used to do, but she was in good spirits, enjoyed her meal, and I just kept chattering away and showing her pictures of things I've been up to. 

(Me with the Mackey ladies!)

(This picture makes me smile every time I see it, which is why it's my lock screen on my phone) 

We got back to my cousins apartment which we were stealing for the night and when I mentioned that I might leave that night because I hard work in the morning, Gran got all teary and I couldn't bear to leave. We sat around talking some more and then Aunt Suzanne and I went for a walk to see the sunset. 

(It was gorgeous) 

Unfortunately, when I got back, Gran was all tucked into bed even though it was only about 8 o'clock. I crawled into bed with her and held her hand and talked until she dozed off. Laying there with her, it was really hard not to completely lose it and start crying. I was feeling so many things, but, most importantly, I was incredibly grateful for the day and my time with her. 

Saying goodbye the next morning was hard, and we both cried. But again, I am so so thankful that my aunts got Gran to come and that I got to spend time with everyone. 

DAY SEVEN - June 6 

Another GAME DAY! Game day means a few things. 1) Sleeping in a little later 2) Arena food all day 3) Wearing cute outfits and taking pictures 4) Late late nights. 

(This was our GAME 1 team picture)

Since I was a little bit of an emotional wreck after saying goodbye to my grandma, I reallllllly wanted to go for a run. Unfortunately, my IT band had been really bothering me, so running more than 2 miles wasn't really an option. I ran a little ways on the path our hotel was situated on, and when I found a huge staircase, I decided that would be a good way to relax. Yes, you heard that right. I did a bunch of stairs broken up with push-ups and crunches and I felt totally in my element since there were other people around doing the same thing, using the area like a gym. NP_Tampa? 

Next, it was a solid 14 hours at the arena.

(I must say - Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay was AWESOME! They had this entire outdoor viewing area with a bar and DJ. The inside of the arena was beautiful too - and all right on the water! Definitely a little different than Nassau Coliseum). 

I'm lucky that my coworkers are awesome and 14 hours FLYS by. Okay, maybe not exactly...but we DO manage to make it fun. 

(TA-DAAAAA) 

DAY 8 - June 7 

TBL --> CHI

Travel days are exhausting. And the days that I feel absolutely zero guilt in skipping the gym. 

I don't even know why they are so killer. Maybe because we were up and out at about 4:30 a.m. after going to bed at 2 a.m. So really, we would nap instead of sleep. All I can say is THANK GOD I'm able to sleep on airplanes. 

Sam and Kim had traveled ahead to Chicago for a day, so when Kim and I landed we headed to the arena to get our bearings and to set up in the trailer. Home sweet home in City 2.

That night, I was exhausted. I didn't want to be anti-social and skip dinner, especially because it's always somewhere amazing, but I just couldn't rally. Especially when I flipped on the TV and realized it was the TONY AWARDS! That sealed the deal - Seamless and laying in bed watching musicals was the clear choice. 

I ordered delivery from Fig and Olive and DAMN was it delicious. Would it have been better sitting down and eating in the restaurant? Probably. But I still thoroughly enjoyed my crostinis and entree. 

The three crostinis that I picked were:
Shrimp, Avocado, Cilantro, TomatoGoat Cheese, Caramelized Onion, ChivePea, Asparagus, Ricotta Lemon Thyme

They were all very tasty, though the bread could have been a little crispier. 

For an entree, I ordered the Fig & Olive Tajine which came with Moroccan spiced chicken served with fig, olive, apricot, carrot, zucchini, cipollini onion, tomato, toasted almond, couscous with cilantro and harissa with arbequina olive oil.

This hit the spot. I loved that they packaged the couscous separately so it didn't get completely drowned in the broth that the chicken and vegetables were in. The meat was incredibly tender and there were dried apricots that made me really happy. 

Overall, very happy with my decision to stay in. And even happier with my decision to be a diva and order Seamless to the hotel lobby instead of ordering room service. 

DAY NINE - June 8 

I started the morning with a run to the bean, purely so I could get this shot: 

As I ran (slowly, and again, only about 2 miles before I was in pain) I also passed these lions who were in the Playoff Hockey spirit! 

This was only my second time being in Chicago, and each time I got I regret not exploring it more. It's such a pretty city from the few areas I've seen!

This was a game day, and an 8 o'clock start, which mean a very late night. Luckily, I was in charge of ordering 5th Meal aka: Giordano's deep dish pizza. 

Now, you can say all you want that deep dish isn't "real" pizza - you can pull a John Stewart and claim that "it's not a pizza...it's a casserole!" But whatever it is, when I ate it for the first time in Chicago last winter, I fell in love. And simultaneously wished I had never tried it. Because it's one of those things that I just cannot stop eating. 

Eating to the point of feeling sick is something that, clearly, is not good for you. 

But place Giordano's pizza in front of me, and I'm Miley - I cannot be tamed. The crust is legit pie crust. Think, buttery, and made up of crispy, crunchy layers. And the amount of cheese inside - ungodly. No calorie count can deter me (but in case you're wondering - a deep dish cheese slice from Giordano's comes in at 500 calories). 

However, in additional to deep dish, I ordered some "thin crust" pies from Giordano's as well. And here, I agree with John Stewart on Chicago's blatant disregard for pizza. 

WHY WOULD YOU EVER SLICE A PIZZA LIKE THIS? 

No like seriously, I think it's just the city of Chicago being incredibly stubborn. No one wants that floppy, soggy middle piece that's one mouthful. What is this? Can someone please explain?

It's one of those things that makes me irrationally angry. I got visibly agitated when this pizza arrived. Similar to when people pronounce "Reese's" as "Ree-sees Pee-sees." Pieces is a word. Reese's rhymes with it. Come on people. (I once called Reese's to confirm the pronunciation and their Corporate Communication department gave me some BS, go-to response about how their customers are welcome to pronounce it however they want. When I asked how the person on the line pronounced it, she confirmed my thoughts.)

The best is when people pronounces Reese's Cup correctly and then as soon as they see a bag of Reese's Pieces it becomes "Ree-sees Pee-sees."

I really can't. 

Okay, moving on. 

DAY TEN - June 9 

Day at the office. 

What does a day at the office look like? 

What is that, you ask? 

It's a chocolate munchkin cut in half and filled with PB, Banana and Nutella. 

Patent pending. 

Dinner that night was at Shaw's - seafood on seafood on seafood. Literally, we started with this raw platter with layers of fresh, fishy fabulousness. 

This baby had Maine lobster tails, oysters, blue crab fingers, shrimp cocktail and Alaskan red king crab bites. Lately, I'm realllllly diggin' crab! 

Also, major props to Shaw's for having close to one of my favorite drinks - their "Elderflower" cocktail had Gin, St. Germain, lime and lemon juice. All it was missing was a splash of grapefruit! 

Think that monstrous shellfish platter was our only appetizer? Think again. We also got some delicious sushi. 

I loved that their sushi rolls were A) pretty and B) had different flavor combinations that standard sushi. I lot of people loved the Spicy Shrimp, Salmon and lemon roll that had spicy shrimp, cucumber and avocado, salmon and lemon! 

For an entree, I ordered the Surf & Surf. Yes, I am a seafood lover for sure. 

The Surf & Surf at Shaw's comes with steamed Alaskan red king crab legs and an 8 oz. Maine lobster tail. I was truly in my glory. And shockingly, loving the crab even more than the lobster! 

Our table also split some sides - including Lobster Mac and Cheese and hash browns with onions. 

As usual, we demanded that there be room for dessert. The sweet-tooth crew split the peach and blueberry cobbler (yum!) the creme brulle (pretty bland), and the raspberry pie (delicious). 

DAY ELEVEN - June 10 

The day I had been waiting for! Waking up at 4:45 a.m. to run 4 miles to the 6:00 a.m. NP_CHI workout with Tina! 

We headed out and got to watch a beautiful sunrise. It's amazing to me how one minute you're in the middle of the city and the next you're at the beach! I know NY is along the water too, but Chicago was just different!

As Tina and I ran, we got more and more concerned with the fact that our blue dot on Google maps didn't seem to be getting any closer to the workout. 

Turns out, we were definitely further than anticipated - more like 6 or 7 miles. We walked/ran and to our delight, when we arrived late, it actually started at 6:30 - not 6:00 - we were right on time! 

(Most awesome tagging I've ever seen!) 

The Chicago tribe leaders had planned an entire hockey-themed workout that was AWESOME! Everyone was super friendly (obviously) and I loved that it was a small, fairly new tribe so everyone was still getting to know each other. The workout was legit - wheelbarrow racing while passing a ball back and forth really does a number on your abs! 

(NP_NHL)

It was the most I had run since Brooklyn, and it didn't feel great. But it DID feel great to cross another NP off the list. NYC, DC, SF, CHI! 

We took an Uber back to the hotel (Thanks, Patrick!) and I took a nap before getting ready for a long day at the arena - another game day! 

I made a friend outside our trailer!

To be continued...

First Stop, Tampa!

On Sunday May 31 I set out for my first real "life on the road" work trip. 

For the most part, I really like travelling for work, and I know I'm incredibly lucky that I get to do it. 17 days was a long time though, I will say! And eating at really nice restaurants for breakfast lunch and dinner sounds really awesome, and it is, until you feel gross. 

"Just choose something healthy on the menu and don't eat too much!" you may be thinking. That's what I thought every morning when I woke up too.  Trust me, it's not as easy as it sounds. 

I guess now is a good time to mention that I couldn't really run at this point (and spoiler alert: I still can't). My IT band was killing me ever since the Brooklyn Half and I knew I needed to take it easy if I was going to start training for the Suffolk County Marathon in July (spoiler alert: That's definitely not happening anymore). I am however proud to say I exercised almost every day that we were on the road - whether it was abs and arms, the elliptical, or going for a 2 mile jog (maybe I shouldn't be proud of that but we were right on a pretty river trail!) 

DAY ONE - May 31
JFK --> Tampa
First things first, of course, was lunch. I started out healthy - ordering this delicious summer salad with spinach, strawberries, blueberries, grilled chicken, etc. 

Oh yeah, and a side of sweet potatoes with a maple syrup dipping sauce. 

The hotel in Tampa was right on the water and I had a balcony! There was a running path all the way from our hotel to the Amalie Arena (about 3 miles there and back). 

After we unpacked we headed to Target to stock up on snacks for the crew trailers. Oh dear, so many snacks. Please, take a look at what would be my temptations for almost 3 weeks. Constantly there. Peanut Butter.  Nutella. Reese's. Poptarts.  Gummy vitamins? 

(Biggest temptation? FROSTED ANIMAL CRACKERS)

At one point, one of my coworkers put a sign listing how many calories were in each type of chocolate in the candy bowl. Yikes. Wish I could say it stopped me... 

When we were done with that, we dropped it all off at the arena to our trailers (yes, we work out of trailers - glamorous~!) It was HOT and HUMID like WHOAH. 

Then, we headed back to the hotel to work on our laptops for a little while and watched this thunderstorm roll in. Working for a little while turned into working for a lot and realizing crap it's 9 p.m. we should eat dinner.  So we headed down the hotel lobby restaurant and grabbed something quick. 

I ordered this salad with grilled salmon, sliced apple, celery and avocado ranch dressing.

DAY TWO - June 1
Work day in the trailers. 

Look what they delivered at lunch time! Dear lord. 

Dinner Monday night was at a tapas restaurant in the hoppin' Tampa neighborhood of Ybor City.  Columbia Restaurant is Florida's oldest restaurant. We walked in and were blown away by how large it was! 

We ate lots and lots of tapas and drank lots and lots of sangria and THEN we all ordered entrees. 

I ordered the Pompano en Papillot - Boneless fillet of Pompano with seafood stuffing of shrimp, crabmeat, artichoke, butter and white wine, wrapped in parchment paper and baked. Served with yellow rice.

I also needed a side salad BECAUSE it's famous and they prepare it table-side. 

USA Today named it "One of the 10 Great Places to Make a Meal out of a Salad." That spoke to me. Because a salad CAN BE A MEAL. 

When this salad came out, it made me really nostalgic, because it was served in the same dish that my favorite salad of all-time is served in.  It's from an Italian restaurant near my house on Long Island and I love it because it comes with cheese and salami and a delicious BEAN SALAD. I'm sorry, I need to cool it on the caps. 

(This is really not a pretty picture, I apologize) 

DAY THREE - June 2
Another work day at the arena. 

Dinner was perhaps the most over the top dinner I've ever experienced. Like their website says, it truly was a "unique culinary experience." 

To start, when we boarded the free shuttle van at the hotel to go to dinner, the bell-hop informed one of my coworkers that he wouldn't be allowed in wearing shorts, and should change into pants - unless he wanted to go to Bern's "pants room" to rent a pair. 

When we walked in, we were blown away by how massive the restaurant was and how fancy it was inside - in an old fashioned kind of way. 

Next, we sat down and were informed that after dinner, there is a separate "dessert room" - the waiter asked if we would like to make a reservation for the dessert room after our meal - to which will all emphatically answered yes. 

The menu was ridiculously extensive. You could tell this place was a legit steakhouse because of the way they listed their steaks - by thickness and weight and categorized by each cut. They even had an entire chart for you to figure out how you like your steak cooked! 

But this place didn't just have steak - they had EVERYTHING. 

And guess what each entree comes served with? I don't think you're ready for this. I really don't think you. We had to check with the waiter to make sure we were reading it correctly. 
French Onion Soup
Salad
Baked Potato
Onion Rings
Vegetable Tasting 

Mind. Blown.

That all seemed incredibly overwhelming to me - plus I knew there was a DESSERT ROOM to follow. 

So after PLENTY of shared appetizers, I ordered a Bern's Steakhouse Cobb Salad and a Lobster Surf Roll.

Perhaps my favorite part was the side I insisted on ordering for the table - CARROT FRIES! Be still my heart. 

The Cobb Salad was delicious as well and loaded with lots of different things - crispy onion straws as you can see, asparagus, eggs, AVOCADO, mushrooms, tomatoes, black olives, onion, and their homemade dressing.  

The Lobster Surf Roll wasn't my favorite thing ever, but it was very different, which I could appreciate. It was served with Coconut lime ponzu and mango tobiko.

Once we were sufficiently full - it was time to head to the Harry Waugh dessert room. Bern's is like a maze - one our way to the dessert room, we passed the ginormous kitchen (which you can go on a tour of if you want your meal to last 5 hours instead of the 4 it took us!) 

We were led to our own little cask enclosed booth/room. Casks are wood that have something to do with where they store alcohol or something...I could research it, but there's a lot of catching up to do and if you really care you can Google it yo'self! 

The point is, we were in our own cozy little room where we noticed there was a phone with buttons that let us control what type of music played in the room. 

Then the waitress informed us that if we picked up the phone, Kenny the house piano player would take requests and we could have it play into the room. Well, of course everyone wanted to make a request after that. It kept us quite entertained. Thanks Kenny! 

Looking back, I wish I had ordered the Macadamia Nut Sundae, or "The Best Sundae in the world." Because I tried a bite of my coworkers, and let me tell you, it really was the best. 

I ordered the Banana Cheese Pie but I must say, I prefer my dad's made with instant pudding mix. 

A bunch of us also split the Brown Sugar which came with 3 different desserts ~moderation~. The Chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake, cookies & cream ice cream sandwich, and warm brown sugar blondie. 

Mhm. 

Yeah. 

DAY FOUR - June 3
Game Day! 

Look at how cute the catering desserts were in Tampa! 

And look at the concoctions I make myself to try to not eat chocolate... 

(Banana + Peanut Butter + Raisins + Coconut Flax Granola)

DAY FIVE - June 4
When we got back to the hotel after a day of work, we were greeted by this beautiful sunset! 

(I love Long Island sunsets more than anything, but I gotta say - this one was a winner!) 

Eventually, we headed out to dinner at a restaurant I had found online that looked right up my alley. Farm to table. With a wall in the restaurant that grows kale! It was called Boca and it was definitely my favorite meal. 

For a drink, I got something delicious with tequila (at least I think, it's usually a safe bet that that's what I ordered!)  

For appetizers, we all split:
Yellow Fin Tuna Tartare
Brie & Apple Flatbread
Sweet Potato Gnocchi 

Dear Sweet Potato Gnocchi,
You came served with earthy Oyster mushrooms, fresh butternut squash, crisp broccolini and rich sage cream and micro parmesan.  You changed my life.
Love,
Lauren

(SOFTY PILLOWY BALLS OF SWEET POTATO) 

For dinner, I really wanted the House Kale Salad with pear and sunflower seeds, but they were out of Kale so I just told them to make a tasty salad and THEY SUCCEEDED. 

I also took a picture of other people's meals because they were so bright and pretty. 

(The were the special of the night. Holy cow.) 

(Yellow fin tuna with kimchi fried rice, coconut broth, baby bok choy and a sweet soy reduction) 

Want to guess if we ordered dessert?

We did. 

We got the BEET CAKE which was like carrot cake but made with beets! It was pretty tasty, except for the beet puree on the side that looked like sweet raspberry sauce but actually just tasted like dirt. I like beets, and I get offended when people say they taste like dirt, but the sauce really did taste like dirt so OKAY FINE maybe sometimes beets taste a little earthy. 

We also got the seasonal fruit cobbler which was SO SWEET. For normal humans it probably would have been too much, but for someone with a sweet tooth like mine, it was delicious. 

So do you want to hear a funny story?

My mom recently visited family in Florida and while she was there, she texted me from brunch and said, "Lauren, I'm at this really cute place with lots of vegetables and lettuce growing on the wall and also huge Bloody Mary's. You would love it her!" My mom knows me really well. Because turns out, it was the same restaurant! Too funny. 

(You're right Mom, I like plants growing on walls! And fresh ingredients! And brightly colored food! And restaurants that are vintage chic and in old gas stations!) 

To be continued...

MAY: Finally Starting to Recap

Well, it's been a crazy few months and to say that I slacked on blogging would be the biggest understatement ever.

The longer I pushed off writing, the more overwhelming the thought of catching up became. I considered just jumping in and starting with something more recent, but there are so many things I've done the past two months that I wanted to post about. So - here I am, writing what will most likely be the world's longest recap post.

When we got home from the Pittsburgh Marathon, it was my (and Melissa's) birthday week. Lucky for us, May 6 fell on a Wednesday this year - which meant starting my birthday with a November Project workout! It just so happens that I share a birthday with Melissa, Ali AND Kaitlin. Crazy!

(Birthday girls pretty in pink!)

That night Peter took me out for dinner at Toloache so we could try the guac trio and GRASSHOPPER TACOS! I was so excited to be adventurous and try the tacos and Peter was totally in (I think the fact that it was my birthday may have had something to do with it...) but unfortunately, these were a huge let down. I don't know why I was convinced a corn tortilla literally just stuffed full of crispy (incredibly salty) grasshoppers would be GOOD. Chapulines - no bueno. 

(SUCH A SPORT I LOVE HIM)

Luckily, the margaritas were strong and the guacamole was wonderful - I loved getting to sample the three different varieties. 1) Tradicional: Avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, serrano 2) Frutas: Avocado, pomegranate, Vidalia onion, mango, apple, habanero, Thai basil 3) Rojo: Avocado, tomato, red onion, chipotle, queso fresco. I was most excited for the Frutas, but my favorite ended up being the plain old Tradicional!

That weekend Melissa and I had a wonderful birthday brunch at Calle Ocho - a reservation I made months in advance to ensure we would have a celebration that included 2 hours of unlimited sangria with the purchase of a brunch entree (between $18 and $26). Yep, you read that correctly. The place was HUGE, the waiter was pretty attentive, and they let us stay for FOUR HOURS. 

The only thing better than the sangria was being surrounded by so many of my amazing friends. And maybe the basket of pastries that came out before our meals (shout out the the cheese filled dough balls which we asked for more of and then brought home in my purse. True story).  

From what I can recall, the food was prettty good too.

(My Long Island lovers)

(Ropa Vieja Hash, Fried Egg, Avocado, Crispy Sweet Potatoes)

(Wild Mushroom Paella, Guatemalan Green Bean Salad, Sweet Pea Vinaigrette)

That night, we went out to The Delancey, but there are no pictures, and that is probably for the best. 

The next morning, Peter and I laid in bed and couldn't figure out what the heck to eat. We decided on Le Pain Quotidien, which is literally outside of my apartment. I had never been, because while everything sounds like something I would love, it's a little on the pricey side. Peter got the avocado toast and I got the spring pea frittata - big fan! It all looked so pretty, the space is open and airy, and we ordered the bread basket that comes with Nutella and delicious jams. Mmm. 

The following Monday I got to take a free class for my "Birthday Month" at Uplift Studios - an all female fitness studio with classes and personal training. 

I took an Uplifting Strength class with Kat that was KILLER. Cardio and lots of weights. I was impressed and especially loved the variety and use of a timer/clock for each exercise. The studio that classes are held in are very small, and I felt a little cramped the whole time, but there are only around 10 participants in each class. 

(Tiny, but sufficient and loved the clock!)

What really blew me away were the locker rooms at Uplift - no need to bring your own lock, you'll get a key to a specific locker. Each lock has a cute little message on it, "You are BEAUTIFUL," "You are ENERGETIC," etc.

The locker room is full of everything you could ever need to get yourself dolled up after class - tons of hair products, blow dryers, straighteners, bobby pins, hair ties, q-tips, body spray, deodorant, razors. Not to mention the color scheme is GREEN - my favorite. 

The front desk was also really nice with some trail mix samples. The personal training space wasn't huge, but then again, there was only one person using it at a time! Uplift also offers a HIIT and "Sculpt Fusion" class. Uplift is located on West 24th Street and single classes are $34. 

Wednesday, May 13 I got to work at a Rangers playoff game at MSG, recording some GoPro footage. Even though I'm not a Rangers fan, there is really nothing like playoff hockey! The Rangers got the win that night, which was good from a content standpoint! 

Next up that weekend was the Brooklyn Half Marathon, which you can read about here. I got a PR and some major IT Band pain. And lots of beer. 

The day after the Brooklyn Half I was up bright and EARLY (which means something, coming from me) to head to Connecticut and watch my little baby yoyo sisterface graduate from college. College graduations are boring, but luckily Sacred Heart kept everything pre-name reading short and sweet. 

My mom and I never thought we would get out of the parking garage afterwards, but after about 20 minutes of not moving, we were able to get to the ferry. In typical Wolman fashion, we had a bottle of champagne to pop in the Bridgeport Ferry parking lot and then went directly to Danford's in Port Jefferson for a delicious meal and more celebratory drinks. 

(Port Jeff, you're so pretty!)

We all split some clams on the half shell and the pita trio for appetizers (Shrimp & Lobster Salad, Hummus, Avocado Sriracha). 

For an entree, I went with the Grilled Sword Fish which came with Quinoa, Tabouli and Bacon Onion Jam. 

My Dad got this beauty of an entree - Sea Scallops with Spatzle, Peas, Carrot, and Truffle Brown Butter. Why do restaurants insist on ruining things with truffle? Or more importantly, why do I not appreciate truffle like the rest of the world?! 

On May 20 Melissa took me to see Finding Neverland for my birthday! Beforehand, we found a place on Restaurant Row in Hell's Kitchen that has $5 sangria that is BOMB. Peter and I have been back since then and tried a few of the tapas and they were really good! Pro tip: order the stuffed mushrooms.

Oh right, the name of the place is Sangria 46. It's on 46th St., go figure. 

Finding Neverland was really great - they kept the "flying" to a tasteful minimum and a lot of the songs were really catchy! Plus, it's a really sweet story. 

(Thank you for such an amazing birthday present Melissa!!)

Friday of that weekend was the moment I had been waiting for - my post marathon and half-marathon massage!! I had a gift card and was able to get an hour long deep tissue massage, which was heavenly. It felt great, but part of me wished it was a little more intense - I didn't feel like any of my knots and kinks had really been worked out. 

Afterwards, I lounged around the hot tub area and read a little in my big comfy robe. 

Memorial Day weekend Peter and I were picked up by his parents to head to Pennsylvania for his great aunts 90th birthday party. It was really nice getting to meet more of his family. The party was at a really cute restaurant where they fed us SO MUCH FOOD it was unreal. Then we went back to the house for even more dessert. We also met this little guy (girl) Sophie - HOW CUTE AND TINY?! 

She peed a lot. Not on me, luckily.

Then we went and saw Peter's brother and wife's new house - I fell in love with their stove, because it's super vintage chic and MINT GREEN. 

Then, Karl and Sarah drove us to Philly for a weekend at Peter's friends apartment. Holy cow are apartments in Philly different than apartments in NYC. 

Sunday we woke up and went for brunch at Gaslight. Some of us played mixologist and combined the Bloody Maria (tequila!) with the Smoked Bloody Mary for a Smoke Bloody  Maria. Yum. 

Peter's chicken and waffles were so photogenic! Actually, everyone's food looked amazing. I went with the Reuben Benedict and of course,..Peter and I split some cornbread. 

Next, we went to a pop-up beer garden which is my favorite thing to do - outdoor day drinking, and tons of different drink options. They also had jenga and some other games. And look who we ran into! 

(Hiiiii Sam!) 

Next it was time for some rooftop beers and relaxation - the sunset was beautiful, we listened to music, and I discovered how amazing Hell or High Watermelon beer is! 

('Merica!) 

When we eventually started getting hungry, we bounced back and forth between different types of food before settling on, shocker, Mexican! Peter's most favorite Mexican to be exact - Mad Mex. Their margaritas are HUGE but apparently only lethal when you get them frozen. I opted for on the rocks, but it was still delicious.  

But the best part? HOLY GUACAMOLE! They had a special guacamole that had chipotle and raisins and walnuts and omg I'm drooling thinking about it. It was different than any other guac we'd ever had and we LOVED IT. 

(This picture does NOT do it justice)

Think we were done? Nope. Next we met up with some people at a bar whose name I can't remember. Something about some animal. I think the Happy Rooster maybe? 

Then we went to Morgan's Pier - where seemingly every 20-something in Philly was hanging out. There were tequila shots ordered. And poured in beers. Which was probably a good indicator of how we would wake up feeling the next morning. 

This was the weekend I began snapchatting Peter as a giant coffee head.  Because he drinks so much coffee, eventually he's going to turn into a mug of it. This reminds me of the Gushers commercials. 

(Cute, babe)

We got lunch at Monk's Cafe when we finally woke up on Monday (burgers, 'Merica), and then stopped at Scoop DeVille - the amazing soft-serve ice cream place I discovered when I was in Philly for the Draft last summer. You can mix in whatever you want from the most overwhelming large list of toppings I've ever seen. It's pretty great. 

Then, it was time to head to the bus, ew. We made great time, and I slept most of the way home. 

Our next big activity was just 2 days later - I got us student rush tickets to go see Les Mis! Again, we stopped at Sangria 46 pre-show. 

Les Mis is by far my most favorite show EVER. And the fact that Ramin Karimloo was starring as Jean Valjean made it even more exciting. We were in the second row, but far stage right. It didn't take away too much of our view though. Ugh. Les Mis. Such a classic. 

2 days after THAT we got to go see Ed Sheeran in Queens! HOLY AMAZEBALLS. We both loved it (and the venue was awesome!) 

Saturday May 30 was my last day in NYC before my crazy work travel started, so naturally, it included lots of time spent with Peter eating Mexican food and drinking margaritas :) We discovered that Mole has some pretty damn good nachos. 

Well there you have it- May. 

On May 31st I set out on what would be a 17 day work trip - followed by another 6 day work trip. 

That's up next!

Brooklyn Half Race Recap

Just 2 weeks after running the Pittsburgh Marathon, FOMO motivated me to run the Airbmb Brooklyn Half Marathon - the largest half marathon in the country. A group of over 60 NPers were out both running the race, and volunteering at a water station - so I bit the bullet, paid the non-NYRR member entry fee, and began to dread the journey to Brooklyn. 

Between Pittsburgh and Brooklyn I didn't run much at all, figuring that giving my legs some time to rest was going to help me in Brooklyn more than making them even more sore and sleepy. 

Given my experience at the Brooklyn Half last year, I'm completely shocked that I wanted to go through the experience again. But that's the funny thing about races - you stress before them, you're miserable during them, the logistics frustrate the hell out of you, and then you cross the finish line and you're ready to sign up for another one.  

Like last year, packet pick-up was only offered at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Looking back on my recap of the 2014 Brooklyn Half, I find it funny that I wrote, "the view was AWESOME! Had it been a nicer night, and had I been there with a group of people, I definitely would have loved to stay, had a drink, eaten some Chickpea and Olive, and enjoyed the music." 

This year, the weather was nicer and I was with Peter, who I convinced to try Chickpea and Olive (I loved mine, he wasn't sold), while we sat outside and listened to the music (and got two free ice cream cones each). 

(If you haven't tried anything from Chickpea and Olive - you need too! They make their patties out of beets and they're amazing!)

The morning of the race a big group of Upper East Side NPers met at the subway pre-5:00 a.m. to trek to Brooklyn. We had prepared ourselves for miserably packed subway cars - but shockingly, it really wasn't bad at all! When we got off the subway we were very close to security and bag drop (much closer than last year). We took some pictures and headed to our corrals. 

I desperately needed to use the bathroom, but the line for the portapotties snaked through the corral and barely moved. I legitimately almost cried at one point. It was miserable. 

Once I went we stood and waited for the start! Peter was still recovering from  being really sick, so he was going to try to pace me/keep me going. I didn't have a strict "goal" time, I just wanted to run fast (but not stupid). Peter's job was to NOT let me go out like I did in Pittsburgh. 

The first half of the Brooklyn Half is an awesome course through Prospect Park. There's a "hill" that people complain about/dread but after months of training in Central Park, it was nothing. The weather was nice, the spectators were great, I was with Peter, and I was genuinely enjoying myself. The course wasn't as crowded as I remembered it being last year, probably because of the two different start waves. 

Around mile 6/7 I started to lag behind Peter a little and he seemed to be feeling good, so I begged him to just stop looking back to make sure I was with him and to run his own race. I had just had an amazing Pittsburgh, and I wanted him to have an amazing race. He said "Ok" but I didn't believe him for a minute. 

Once you're out of the park, the course gets slightly less exciting. Ok, a lot less exciting. The spectators are gone and you're on a long, flat stretch of highway. Around mile 10 I knew exactly what Peter was doing - he was staying just far enough ahead of me that I would keep trying to hang with him. And it was working, except for the fact that my IT band was absolutely screaming at me, causing me to limp at some points. I knew I only had 3 miles left and then I could rest for as long as I needed so I pushed ahead and eventually Peter let me catch up to him so we could chase down the finish line. We were both wanting to cry a little at that point I think, but we pushed each other as it started to pour rain and we turned onto the Coney Island Boardwalk. I love the ending of this race - it's full of people cheering and it's such a cool place to cross a finish line. I only wish the turn onto the boardwalk weren't so narrow - it slows you down right at the moment you want to be breaking into your final sprint. 

Peter crossed a second before me, and I finished in 1:40:34 (a pace of 7:41). I was extremely happy. And extremely wet. 

Rain!

Luckily, within a few minutes of finishing, the rain let up as we went to get our bags.  Unlike last year, when I had to wait over an hour for my bag to turn up, this was an extremely easy bag pick up. 

Once we had our bags and our pictures, it was time to celebrate with some giant beers. The sun came out and felt amazing - if I were to describe my perfect day, it would probably be running a race before some serious day drinking. Nothing better. 

(I think we both agree that this was a fun day)

NYRR - bravo on all the improvements to the Brooklyn Half - I'll definitely be back next year! My goal after 2014 was 1:45:00 or faster.  New goal? 1:38:00 (I want a 7:30 pace!) 

*Thank you for pretending this race recap isn't approximately 2 months over due...

Restaurant Review: Gato

Bobby Flay, like Emril Lagasse, Paula Dean and Gordon Ramsay, has found success both in the kitchen and on screen. Flay has truly reached celebrity chef-dom, with his recent divorce from his wife of 10 years (Law & Order SVU actress Stephanie March) making the pages of E! and TMZ. He’s appeared on 13 Food Network shows and specials and acted as a celebrity judge for a number of cooking competitions.

I’ve had the opportunity to eat at a few of his restaurants- most recently, Mesa Grill in Las Vegas and Bar Americain here in the Big Apple.  His newest restaurant, Gato, opened in March of 2014 to pretty good reviews and pretty excellent Instagram buzz.  I immediately added it to my Bucket List, and every time my parents came into the city I would try to get us a reservation (what, you think I could afford to take myself out to eat here?) No dice.

Until finally, on a Wednesday night in April, success! We got a reservation for 8 p.m. at Gato. My ideal dinner time!

I printed copies of the Immaculate Infatuation’sGato review since they are my most trusted source of foodie information. As my parents and I enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at the hotel bar, I talked them through the strategy and let them read the review. A little much? I guess you don’t know me.

It would be a mistake if I were to bury the lead on this one -  before we get into me saying, “It was delicious” and “you should order this” a lot, let me just mention that Bobby Flay actually works in the kitchen at Gato fairly regularly and on this particular Wednesday night, he was there. 

My mom spotted him and immediately started saying, “It’s Bobby, it’s Bobby!” While pretending to wave at him and saying hi. We agreed he looks much better in person. My Dad was equally excited. I was totally chill, calm, relaxed, “whatever” about the whole thing. Ok, not exactly. But it was my DAD who told the waitress, “My daughter has FOOD BLOG can you tell Bobby to come over?” Hearing my dad say the word blog will never not be weird. But once Peter agreed he would take the ultimate, “I’m star struck and totally not playing this cool, can I have a picture?” picture – I anxiously awaited my opportunity. As he was walking back to the kitchen we asked him if I could get a picture and he said, “Come to the kitchen.” At first I thought he said something about needing to go back to the kitchen aka NO but then I realized he wanted me to follow him so everyone in the restaurant didn’t see he was taking pictures and start forming a line. 

So, there ya have it, Peter took my picture with Bobby Flay in the kitchen of Gato and it was great and my dad swears it’s because of this “food blog” that is influential and important to the culinary landscape of New York City.

Now for the review.

First things first, we found Gato, situated inconspicuously on Lafayette Street. Once we walked in, it was a lot nicer. The space was larger than I expected, fairly open and airy, with awesome light fixtures. My mom was a little critical of the flooring – it looked like pretty mosaic/Moroccan tiles – but was actually a soft/corky material. Didn’t bother me, but my mom is Mrs. HGTV so I figured her interior design critique was worth mentioning!

(Read the New York Times' Review which is much better written than mine!) 

It was crowded around the bar, but we found a spot to stand and took a look at the cocktail list. It’s really no surprise that I opted for the Lorenzo – gin, St. Germaine and muddled cucumber – some of my favorite cocktail ingredients (although gin, St. Germaine and grapefruit is my all-time favorite combo). I was a little concerned that there was also sherry in it, but it turned out to be delicious. Plus people sometimes call me Lorenzo, so it was destiny.

 We sat down and our waitress was great, giving us suggestions and letting us know what some of the most popular dishes are.

First up were the bar bites, a great deal that lets you pick 3 for $17. These were smaller than I thought, and not the easiest to split among 4 people but c’est la vie (true story: my alarm every morning is C’est La Vie by B*Witched. I am a true child of the 90s.)

Now without further ado, the bar bites:

Lamb Tenderloin, salsa verde – thinly sliced, super tender, full of flavor. I love lamb, sorry Lamb Chop!

Chorizo Crepinette , apricot mostarda, pickeled brussels sprouts – tasty, but I think I liked the things around the chorizo more than the chorizo!

Eggplant, manchego, oregano, balsamic – I am a veggie lover, but even the meat lovers agree that this may have been the best one!

(Left to right: Lamb Tenderloin, Chorizo Crepinette, Eggplant)

Normally, I would skip pizza on any menu unless I was out specifically for pizza. But the dudes over at Immaculate Infatuation promised that, “You’ve never had anything like it, and you’ll want it again.” So we ordered the Pizza with Lamb Sausage, tomato jam, mozzarella and mint. It was good, but I’m sad to report that I didn’t lose my shit over it, and I wouldn’t order it again, especially when it meant foregoing appetizer options like the popular Scrambled Eggs or Roasted Octopus. Too bad, so sad. But, it was probably the best appetizer to split between 4 people, and since the bar bites had only provided teensy bites to each of us, we were in need of some apps.

I had also heard tons of great things about the VEGETABLES at Gato. My favorite! There was no doubt that my first choice were the charred carrots with parsnip chips, harissa, mint and yogurt. I think one day I might turn INTO a carrot. I eat them pretty much every day. These carrots were delish and I loved that they came out looking like real, full carrots!

The second vegetable side we picked was the crispy potatoes with poached egg, smoked paprika and parmigiano. They were definitely crispy! This was that dish on the table that I didn’t need, I didn’t love, but yet I kept picking on them and ending up eating way more of them then I intended.

Alright ENTRÉE time!

There was never really a question as to what I was going to order for my main meal: Kale and Wild Mushroom Paella with crispy artichokes and EGG. Adding an egg on top of anything automatically elevates it to another level. The waitress confirmed this was one of their most popular dishes, and the Immaculate Infatuation deemed it another “must order.” It’s the dish featured on the “Menu” page of Gato’s website. And it’s all over the ‘gram. I’m so glad I jumped on the bandwagon with this one. The rice was incredibly crunchy in a great way and the flavors mixed together perfectly. Did I mention the server patiently waited for me to take my picture before scrambling the egg in for me? Now that’s what I call service!  

(Picture perfect pre egg scramblin')

While everyone else’s meals had lots of spice and an somewhat overabundance of seasonings, my meal was flavorful but mild and relied mainly on the already delicious flavors from the veggies, with the rice adding more texture than anything.

Immaculate Infatuation claims the paella is the perfect size to split between two people. Quitters. I finished every last bite by myself.

My mom has always said that when she goes to a Bobby Flay restaurant, it’s too spicy and there’s too much happening – and after trying everyone else’s meals, I would have to agree with her, especially if you’re like me and like trying a lot of different things/sharing during the course of a meal. If you got one dish and that was all you were having, it would be different, but we had tried 4 appetizers plus an entrée and my taste buds were going a little crazy.

While Flay uses a lot of spice, even for things that you would never expect to by spicy, the flavors are still usually very good. So while the spice doesn’t overpower the flavor, it’s not really necessary or adding anything except a burning in your mouth and maybe a runny nose.

I digress.

Peter ordered the Duck Confit with fregula sarda (huh?), delicate squash, mustard greens and pomegranates. The addition of pomegranate seeds to any dish is a personal favorite of mine – adds some sweetness and a fun little “pop” of texture.

Mom ordered the Orata (it’s a type of fish) with piquillo pesto, roasted lemon olive oil, pink & black pepper.  Doesn’t sound spicy, but somethin’ in there was!

Dad got the Red Prawns, meyer lemon & garlic, gigante beans and thyme. The shramps were delish, and surprise surprise had a kick to them! The gigante beans came in a side dish and were weirdddd man.

When it was time for dessert, we each received a free shot of Sherry (OK, so maybe it was for sipping, not taking a shot)as well as complimentary chocolate, pine nut and pistachio biscotti that tasted exactly how they should. We also ordered a scoop of Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato (I’m not the world’s BIGGEST Nutella fan, but I fell in love with this gelato!), Fromage Blanc Cheesecake with burn orange and pinenuts (again, not a huge cheesecake fan but loved this dessert) and the Pear Crostata with fig gelato(the pastry to pear ratio was skewed – a little too much pastry in my opinion).

(Biscotti)

(Pear Crostata with Fig Gelato)

(Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato)

(Fromage Blanc Cheesecake)

I didn’t realize until I just typed that all out what a sweets addiction Peter and I have. Haha just kidding, I’ve definitely realized it. But I don’t think it’s going away any time soon. The dessert section of my Bucket List grows by the minute and it’s officially ICE CREAM SEASON.

Overall, it was a great night, a great experience, great food. But you’ve been warned – don’t go to Gato to sample everything under the sun. Stick with an app and an entrée or an entrée and a side of vegetables. And seriously, order the damn paella, just because it’s vegetarian doesn’t mean it’s not amazing!

122 Days Until Marathon #3 - Eeeek.

10 days ago I ran the Pittsburgh Marathon. 

9 days ago I wrote down what I wanted to focus on between now, and training for an October marathon:
Strength (more deadlifts, more squats, more weights!)
Yoga
Maintaining a weekly mileage around 25
I narrowed my "Fast, Flat, Fall Marathon" hunt down to two races - the Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon vs. the Hartford Marathon.

Mohawk-Hudson River because it's fast, flat, in the fall, scenic, small.  Hartford because it's a little bigger, nearby, logistically easier, and my best friend is running her first half marathon there that day! 

But I was concerned Mohawk-Hudson was too small, and another marathon with a long car ride, hotel, etc. didn't excite me. Hartford's course definitely wasn't as fast or flat. 

There was also the fact that I wanted to be sure my parents would be able to make it to my next marathon. 

A wise man then told me, "If either of those were the right race, it wouldn't be hard for you to pick one." Then he gave me frankincense and myrrh. 

Fast forward a few days of deliberation and - I went rogue. 

Signed myself up for the inaugural Suffolk County Marathon on September 13. 122 days away. And that's right, inaugural. A "proposed" course with zero elevation chart for me to pre-review, I'm simply trusting the website which promises a "fast, flat 26.2 mile course featuring long straightaways" that "will give you the perfect opportunity to shatter your own personal goal." I don't even know if there will be pacers.

Seems a little risky when the goal is the BQ, and oh yeah, it means starting a training plan again in approximately...a week. But there are reasons that make it seem less crazy, I swear! 

A) Logistically, it's easy. I can sleep in my bed the night before.
B) It ends at the "Taste of Long Island" Festival - do you know me?
C) I LOVE running along the water. 
D) Hometown vibes, family can be there.
E) Cheap
F) If I have to, I can switch to the Half up  until the day of the race. And for $65, that's still a good deal.
G) The website says fast and flat, it must be true, right? 
H) That wise-man said he would consider ditching the camel and running his first 26.2

The most daunting thing is the fact that I'm going right back into training - something I hope my body doesn't punish me for. The plan is running the Brooklyn Half on Saturday and taking a full week off from running before slowly increasing the mileage again. 

So that's that. Anyone care to join me? Long Island is pretty great. 

SORRY THERE ARE NO PICTURES.  HERE: 

Avocados are the Oprah of Instagram. 

Pittsburgh Marathon Part 2

At around mile 4, on the 2^nd bridge, I started looking for Peter and Erin since they planned to be there. Eventually, I spotted them standing on the side of the bridge. I yelled, but neither of them saw or heard me. So I jumped into the air, waved my hands, screamed Peter, and got their attention. I was so excited. Maybe leaping into the air and flailing my arms like a crazy octopus wasn’t the best energy-conservation strategy but the pay-off – getting a second to make eye contact and smile at both of them, was totally worth it. 

After that bridge, we went right over a 3^rd bridge – they weren’t bad at all. The race was still flying along at this point- the bridges were short and had basically no incline. My memory of everything after that point is vague with a few moments that stick out for one reason or another. Here are those random moments that I can clearly remember:

Around mile 6 there was a turn and a big downhill. Waiting at the bottom of the hill was a band and a big cheer section. It was an exciting, “Woohoo running marathons is fun!” moment. It was probably the last time I thought that until I crossed the finish line.

At mile 9 I took my first gel because I knew mile 12 was where the big hill was. I wanted to give it 20 minutes to kick in. I passed a photographer while I was eating it and totally hammed it up for the camera.

Someone was holding a sign that said “Smile if you peed yourself!” I thought it was a little too soon for someone to have peed themselves, but laughed at the sign. Foreshadowing.

There was a sprinkler archway set up for us to run through and when I passed under it, the water was ICE cold – it literally took my breath away and it was scary to stop breathing for a second as you’re running and not be able to catch your breath.

Also around mile 9 I caught up to the 8:40 pace group (that’s how far behind the 3:35 guy had lined up in the corral. I stayed with the group for about a mile and the girl who had left the 3:35 group with me was there too.  We exchanged a, “holy shit that pacer was so far back,” confirmed that our watches had the same time, and eventually lost each other. 

Looking back, this was the moment I should have relaxed, stuck with the 3:40 pace group the rest of the race, and probably would have qualified for Boston. That’s not what I did, however. I got impatient and continued to run far too fast for the first half of the race.

Miles 5-10 were run at the following paces: 7:46, 7:37, 7:33, 7:55, 7:43, 7:42.

The bridge leading up to the mile 12 hill wasn’t bad at all.  The mile 12 hill was like a 2 part hill (similar to Harlem Hill). The first part gave me a false sense of security that I was going to be fine. Then I rounded the corner and saw the second half looming in front of me and thought grrrrrreat. But I made it up and over without too much trouble.

I felt good for a few more miles, but I could tell I was running out of steam. I just kept telling myself to get to Peter and Erin at mile 15ish, and then I would get an energy boost and feel better. Miles 11-15 were 7:42, 8:11, 7:55, 8:11, and 7:48.

I didn’t see Erin and Peter again, but I did take another gel, hoping it would give me a boost. I was really starting to feel awful. There was no specific pain anywhere and my breathing was fine but my body was just tired and my legs didn’t want to turn over as fast as I had been asking them to. At the end of the race if you had asked me to guess where I started to slow down, I probably would have said mile 15, but it turns out miles 16-18 were still pretty fast at 7:54, 7:56, and 8:01. But mentally, I knew the rest of the race was going to suck. I had burnt out. I also really had to pee.

I can’t say when exactly it happened, but I knew I was going to have to pee, and I knew that I was very close to a BQ finish time – so there was no way I was stopping at wasting precious time at a portapotty. I grabbed a stick of Vaseline from someone at a fluid station and rubbed it on my thighs in case I had the guts to actually follow-through with the peeing as you run thing. It happened, people. At first it was pretty contained and I didn’t think it would be a big deal, but then my bladder was like, “Oh you’re letting this happen? K, we actually have another gallon of urine, comin’ right up.” There’s no way people that I passed didn’t know what was happening, but I was oddly ok with it in the moment. And I guessed it meant I had been drinking enough water? 

Speaking of water, I was also really proud of my grabbing water cups on the run, folding it in half, holding the top half closed, drinking it sideways technique. It was pretty solid. Plus it was really hot out and whatever I spilled all over myself felt great. There were also people handing out some ice cold towels which felt amazing around my neck. I also used one and attempted to clean my legs off a little…

It was sunny and it was pretty damn hot. I had lost the arm warmers really early on in the race.

Mile 19 on was where it was REALLY bad. I never ever thought I would come as close as I did to walking. One minute I was telling myself, “RUN FASTER YOU IDIOT! You can BQ! Leave it all out on the course! You’ll never forgive yourself if you don’t give this everything you’ve got!” And the next minute I was telling myself, “There’s no way you’re BQing at this point, just walk and try not to be so hard on yourself- it’s not happening, you already ruined it, what’s the point just walk a little.” Back and forth, those two schools of thought battled it out in my head for 8 miles, while my legs battled the hilly back end of the course.

I waited for that moment I had in Wineglass where the pain didn’t matter and I just “ran with my heart.” There were brief spurts where I was able to pick up the pace but I couldn’t sustain it more than a few seconds. 19-24 paces were 8:18, 8:52, 8:47, 8:50, 9:05, 8:46.

I would pass spectators who would cheer me on, tell me how great my pace was, tell me I could do it and I wanted to badly to believe that I could still come in under that 3:35 mark.  Even if I ran a typically easy pace for me, I could have done it. But nope, 9 minute miles were all I had left. Every, “You look great!” cheer just made me want to cry because a) I knew I didn’t look great and b) I sure as hell didn’t feel great. As a shuffled my feet one in front of the other some people told me to pick it up, we’re at the end, you got this, let’s go – further proof that I looked like I was hurtin’ and as I passed some people I did the same for them.

Around mile 24 the 3:35 group came up behind me. Of course my heart wanted to finish strong with them, but it honestly just wasn’t possible. The 8:40 group came along shortly after that, and I put in a little more of an effort to stay with them, but that wasn’t sustainable either.

At Wineglass, I ran the last 2 miles like I was never going to run again – I blew past that finish line so strong. But no amount of cheering spectators or internal mantras could get my legs to move any faster in Pittsburgh.  

I saw Peter and Erin as I came to the finish line and I made a “I’m gunna die” face (I’m sure it was super adorable!) When I crossed the finish line, I’m happy to say I wasn’t sad and disappointed that I didn’t BQ – that was never the goal. 

I did PR by a TON, I completed my second marathon, I ran my own race, I learned a ton about race strategy, I had PEED MYSELF, and I knew that I had given it all that I had  - there was just nothing left to give by the end. My last two miles were 9:26 and 8:56.

When I crossed the finish line in 3:37:03, I was way out of it. I felt like everything was really far away, and my legs – oh my freaking legs. Volunteers helped me shuffle away but I really was on the verge of collapsing. I stubbornly told them I was fine, but I really probably could have used a medical tent. Everything was so tight and hurt more than I’ve ever experienced.

I got my medal (SO HEAVY!) and remember thinking “Seriously? A banana? I DON’T WANT YOUR BANANA.” Wineglass had soup and pizza and other delicious things. 

Pittsburgh – a banana. Not amused. Anyway, I chugged some Gatorade, chugged a water bottle, and was happy to see smiley face cookies and Panera bagels (mmm cinnamon crunch bagel!) At least a little better than a damn banana.

I just wanted to get to the finisher’s festival, but the walk there seemed to last for years. I stopped to have some pictures taken but the whole time I was on the verge of tears. We had planned to meet in the finisher’s festival near the family reunion area but luckily, Peter found be before that point and I basically collapsed into him and I don’t know how I wasn’t sobbing, I think it would have taken too much energy. I was so glad to see him, I was in so much pain, and he was saying such nice things about how well I’d done and how proud he was.  And he got me a TEDDY BEAR which I clutched the rest of the afternoon and he took all my pictures with me. His name is still being negotiated.

When we found an area to sit down I literally need Peter to pick me up and put me down, I couldn’t just squat to sit down. They just hurt. So, so badly. About 5 minutes into him trying to massage some life back into them, I let him know that I had peed all over myself. I was horrified and felt so bad but he just laughed at me and gave me a kiss and I think that’s pretty much proof of how amazingly wonderful he is.

Once Melissa finished, Erin met up with us and I get in line for the massage tent. Melissa found us and joined us in line as Pure Protein bars were pushed on us (not delicious). It was such a gorgeous sunny day, there was music, and I finally started to feel that “post-marathon high” that is the reason I will certainly be signing up for another one. Peter went and got my medal engraved, because again, he’s the best.

My massage was OK but not amazing and it didn’t make me feel any better afterwards, but the lady was nice. We met up with Taylor, took some pictures, and headed back to the car. 

Walking was less torturous than right after I finished. Peter and Erin walked up the parking garage to get our bags since I definitely wasn’t about to tackle stairs yet. We took some more pictures in front of the bridge and headed to brunch!

Brunch was wonderful, because we met up with the rest of the November Project people who had run – Natasha, Emily, Nina all ran the half and Taylor, Laura, myself and Melissa had run the full. Plus, Myles, Peter and Erin, Taylor’s boyfriend, and three of Peter’s friends who live in Pittsburgh. It was a partay!

We went to a place called Sonoma Grille that I had found online – for $23 you got an appetizer, entrée and brunch cocktail! Everything on the menu sounded so good, but I ended up ordering the Crab Tian – lump crab, avocado, onion, cilantro, chili oil and sesame crisp. This was killer.  SO much crab. So much avocado.

The entrée I chose was the Kurobuta Benedict – it came with big hunks of pork that were cooked really well, but it was a little much. I preferred the quail eggs and asparagus muffin it came with. The Hollandaise Curry Sauce was a bit of a letdown because it didn’t taste much like curry to me.

I was also bummed that the Bloody Mary tasted overwhelmingly of Worcestershire sauce. That didn’t stop me from eating it, of course.

After brunch we headed back to Erin’s and I promptly showered and organized all my things so that it would be done and I wouldn’t have to think about it again. We sat outside on the porch in the beautiful sunshine and Erin’s family had an delicious outdoor dinner for us – complete with beers and wine, obviously.

Also obviously, dessert. Brownie sundaes! The brownies were Ghirardelli and soooo yum.

(Such a beautiful night!)

It was, understandably, a pretty early night. I was looking forward to a great night’s sleep, but I tossed and turned all night because everything hurt so badly – every time I went to kick the sheet away, it literally felt like I was being stabbed. It was not the wonderful post marathon sleep I had expected, sadly.

(Bye Sophie! :(

In the morning we got on the road (after getting salted caramel iced coffee) and made a stop at Penn State to eat at Waffle Shop (Peter and I ordered ALL THE FOOD) and then Peter drove us through the campus. 

(Eggs, bacon, English Muffin, Home fries, French Toast AND blueberry pancakes)

(Ice Dancing)

It was a long day. After like 9 hours, we got the car back to Long Island and had dinner at Peter’s parent’s house. Lasagna was everything I needed. Next, it was the train to Penn Station, subway to my apartment, cab to Peter’s. Going up stairs wasn’t awful, though it was definitely slow going. Down stairs was a different story. It was SO ROUGH.

Tuesday night I jogged a mile and Wednesday I jogged less than a mile. My first real run since the marathon was Saturday when Melissa and I did 5 miles in the park. My quads are FINALLY feeling almost completely normal. Next weekend is the Brooklyn Half Marathon, so I hope I’m ready to go!

I also said I wasn’t racing in Brooklyn, but now that I know how fast I was able to run the first 18 miles of my marathon, I want to see what I can do in a half!

Overall, Pittsburgh was an amazing weekend. Being there with Peter, Erin and Melissa made me feel so relaxed. The weather was beautiful. Everything was well organized. The course was challenging and I am so so happy to have shaved 12+ minutes off my PR time. I’m not done with marathons yet, that’s for sure.

There’s so many people who encourage and inspire me to get up and run at 6:00 a.m., in the freezing cold, for 3 hours. There’s so many people who encourage and inspire me to go to bed early, to choose race registration fees over nights out, to keep myself healthy. Running and marathon training has completely changed my way of life in so many ways and I’m so happy to be a marathoner. 

(These are our Saturday nights and I LOVE IT)

Pittsburgh Marathon Part 1

If we’re being honest, putting my fingers to the keyboard to type up a recap of last weekend is an extremely daunting task. I hope you’re somewhere comfortable, or have something that you’re really trying to avoid doing, because this is going to be long.

I spent all of last week slowly packing. By Thursday night, my Vera Bradley duffel bag and my backpack were stuffed with every running-related item that I owned, “Just in case.” Ice packs, ace bandages, icy hot, compression socks, foam roller, 4 different outfit possibilities, 3 pairs of sneakers – and did I mention all of the food I brought? My own Ziploc bags of quinoa, oatmeal and carrots (none of which I ended up eating, for the record). There was pita bread and Gatorades and 6 pairs of socks (because obviously you can’t buy Gatorade in Pittsburgh…) It was a small miracle that I contained everything to two bags.

Friday at 3 I left the office (got a good luck hug from Tiffanie!), walking slowly under the weight of all my extremely necessary luggage, and made my way uptown to Peter’s apartment, where his parents had just arrived to drop off his car for us.  We settled in for a long drive (Long Drive – Jason Mraz, quality song that you should download) through the incredibly large state of Pennsylvania.

(Thanks for the hug!)

Our first stop was somewhere in Jersey because Mr. Caffeine needed a hit. As we left Dunkin Donuts, Peter told me to, “Do something funny in front of my car!” Naturally, I climbed onto the hood of the silver car in front of me, only to realize as a man walked by that I was in fact sitting on the hood of a stranger’s car. Good one, Lauren.

(This was actually Peter's car...)

Once we got out of New York/New Jersey it was smooth sailing. We made another pit stop in the Poconos at, you guessed it, Dunkin Donuts, where I changed into my comfy clothes and squeezed my legs into compression socks.

(The drive was beautiful! I took approximately 173 sunset pictures, just ask Peter!)

Next stop was dinner near State College aka Penn State aka Peter’s Alma Mater. I loved listening to his trip down memory lane and seriously wished I had toured Penn State as a high school junior/senior. I had zero interest in going to a big school, but damn, that place is kind of amazing. We sat and ate at Panera and I was reminded that Panera is an underrated fast-casual restaurant that’s actually really really delicious, healthy and wholesome. I had half of a turkey/cranberry flatbread and the chicken hummus power bowl – I loved that the salad was legitimately baby spinach, cucumbers, tomato, chicken, hummus, and a lemon. Not drenched in some fake dressing that probably would have wreaked havoc on my stomach come race day.

Around midnight, we made it to Sewickley, the suburb outside of Pittsburgh where my friend and roommate Erin grew up. Her and Melissa had taken a bus there earlier in the day. Erin showed us where we would be staying in her giant, beautiful, amazing, maze of a Victorian house and we went straight to sleep with plans to wake up around 9 to head out to the expo and Saturday market nice and early. Right before bed Peter gave me a note to read that got me really excited for Sunday, calmed some of my nerves, and reminded me again of just how glad I was that he was there for this, even though he couldn’t run the half marathon like he planned. The note ended with my favorite running quote lately,

“Who of us hasn’t considered how our peers will react to our performance in a given race, whether good or bad? And in those moments, whom are we ultimately running for? The sport is difficult enough as it is; doing it for anyone but ourselves makes it unsustainable.”

I woke up, showered, and went downstairs with my Ziploc back of oatmeal to find Melissa, Erin and Erin’s mom standing around a griddle making banana and strawberry pancakes. Erin’s family makes their pancakes with oil instead of butter too (the best way to make pancakes, trust me). I chose pancakes over oatmeal and Melissa and I did some serious damage – soo many pancakes were consumed in the pretty sun room while the new Australian Shepherd puppy Sophie provided entertainment (Erin’s parents picked her up on Friday and she was the sweetest thing ever!)

(Flowers, puppies, pancakes - perfect start to the day!)

It took us a little longer to get going than we anticipated but eventually, we piled in the car and made our way to Pittsburgh. Along the way Erin showed us the ginormous homes of people like Sidney Crosby and Mario Lemieux (no big deal, just a hockey rink complete with Zambonis in the backyard!) We also stopped at Sheetz which is like a 7-11 on crack. Apparently Sheetz vs. WaWa is the big debate in Pennsylvania. I didn’t end up trying anything from either, so I can’t make any judgments.

(F'Real f'real?)

We entered the city and it was so much prettier than I had expected – 3 rivers, tons of bridges, and a beautifully sunny day – Pittsburgh was picture-perfect. We parked near the Strip District and walked along all of the booths/shops. I was overwhelmed by all the delicious food, but I was still so stuffed with pancakes that I managed not to buy anything (except a toothbrush, because I somehow succeeded in forgetting something while simultaneously packing everything).

With my eyes, I ate baklava, pastries, lobster rolls, olives, fudge and more. Then, we walked over to the convention center for the EXPO! After seeing the Boston Marathon expo just two weekends earlier, the Pittsburgh Marathon had a lot to live up to – overall, I thought it was pretty good! We first walked in and got our bibs which was easy enough. Unfortunately, I had ordered a small shirt instead of an extra small since the ones from Wineglass were so teeny tiny and when I went to swap it at the shirt exchange table, there were no extra smalls to be found. Oh well! Another thing Melissa and I were bummed with was the fact that the girls and guys shirts were different colors – the guys had green and the girls had pink. Sexist! Although green is my favorite color, I still like the pink shirt.

After walking around and having some samples (why do protein bars taste so bad?) I fell in love with a Nike Pittsburgh Marathon t-shirt but convinced myself I have a million exercise clothes and don’t need any more. 

Peter was still really sick, but being a trooper as we dragged him around. We sat down while Melissa and Erin got the car and we made our way home.

I made a turkey sandwich, did some organizing of all my things, painted my nails, and had a serious discussion with Melissa about which of my four outfit options I was going to wear. After a lot of back and forth, some modeling for the group and some jogging in place, I decided to go with the same outfit I had worn for my first marathon. Original, Lauren. But at least I knew that I would be comfortable and it was one less thing I had to worry about bothering me during 4 hours of running.

We sat outside on the beautiful porch for a little while before heading inside to watch the Kentucky Derby! It’s crazy to think a) how long the race has been going on b) how much money is at stake c) how short the jockeys are. I still have so many good memories from going to Saratoga when I was younger and I’ve really been meaning to make a trip to Belmont one of these days! Mainly for the outdoor drinking if we’re being real.

Anyway. Erin and her parents went out for a family dinner and Peter, Melissa and I headed to the grocery store for dinner supplies. Since Peter’s throat was hurting so much, his dinner was a lot of ice cream and soup. Melissa and I made a pretty delicious meal of rotisserie chicken and sautéed veggies. Easy peasy. I ate my chicken on a whole wheat pita with guacamole and had some veggies on the side. We each had a spoonful of Phish Food ice cream because – because.

Next up was reading the card Rebecca had given Melissa and I and attempting some foam rolling.  All the foam rolling did was make me panic about tight/sore spots which Peter reminded me weren’t going to go away at this point so it was no use worrying about them. What was going to happen in the morning was going to happen. But while I was foam rolling, Sophie totally thought I was another puppy and all she wanted to do was play/attack me. TOO CUTE I TELL YA!

I went up to bed and Peter and I read through “The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances” quickly. I’m so glad Peter thought to pack it because it was just what I needed – to laugh at the craziness that is training for and running marathons, to remember the amazing sense of accomplishment and peace I feel while running, and to remember not to take it all so seriously. Shockingly, I fell asleep pretty easily. I woke up a couple of times throughout the night to use the bathroom, so I suppose my pre-race day hydration had been successful.

(Ready or not, here I come!)

At 5 a.m., my alarm was going off. The first thing I did was read the card from Kayla and Jess. Then, I was pinning a bib to my shirt, putting on my throwaway sweatshirt, grabbing my bag, and walking down the stairs for breakfast. Ok, there were a few other steps in there, like brushing my teeth, putting my watch on, etc. But you get the point. 

I was so worried about my stomach after the Wineglass Marathon and Brooklyn Half Marathon. I just prayed #2 wouldn’t be an issue this time around. Like I said, I never really figured out my nutrition situation, so I was winging it. I had some Kashi cereal and crossed my fingers.

Then it was time to put on my Tattly temporary tattoo! It said, "OKAY LETS DO THIS" and I loved it. 

The four of us hopped in Erin’s car and we were off. The traffic was fine and we drove to the second or third parking garage off the highway and had no trouble finding a spot. Just like at Wineglass, I had a last minute struggle about using my Goodwill Chobani half-zip as a throwaway and decided against it. Unlike at Wineglass, it wasn’t freezing cold out. I was fine in my shorts, arm sleeves, and heatsheet from an old race. I left my phone behind with Peter, but had decided to run with my Spibelt – 3 gels, a tampon, ID and debit card. I was ready.

We walked towards the corrals and I gave our adoring fans (Erin and Peter) hugs and kisses goodbye. (I hugged Erin, kissed Peter, in case there was a question about that…)

(Mt 99 cent knee socks/arm warmers are AWESOME don't deny it)

Melissa and I ran into Taylor in line for the portapotty and chatted while I anxiously awaited the moment of truth – would I be able to go to the bathroom before the race, and would that be enough? (If you’re not comfortable reading about my bodily functions as they relate to running, then you’re probably not going to love around mile 17 of this race recap, just a heads up). Answer: I was able to go. I breathed a sigh of relief and we walked to corral B.

The corral was a little bit of a mess. We couldn’t find any pacers. I had told myself I wanted to find the 3:40 pacer to go out conservatively and if I felt amazing somehow, I would chase down the 3:35 group later in the race. Qualifying for Boston was a goal I wouldn’t even let myself consider because I knew I would most likely end up disappointed if I went in with that as my goal. Of course, the only pacer I saw in the entire corral was the 3:35 pacer. And of course, I couldn’t resist lining up near him to see how it went.

Without much fanfare, the race started. And it was packed. It was hard to run very fast at all, and dodging people to keep the pacer in sight was stressful. Eventually, I started to notice everyone around me making comments about our group – wondering why we were so far back. I pushed it out of my mind and tried to ignore it, but if became more and more obvious that we were fighting to navigate through a crowd of people that were much slower than us. At some point in the first 1-2 miles I saw Melissa which was exciting. But then it was back to worrying as I literally heard someone say, “That pacer’s broken!”

The first 3 miles flew by. Literally, I don’t know how they went by in such a blur. It was on the first bridge at mile 3 that I finally took some of the words Peter had said to me and decided to go with them: “Run your own race.”  The whole pace group situation was stressing me out and I didn’t want to be mentally frazzled, especially since my legs were feeling good. So I took off on my own. Another girl who had started near me did the same, and we chatted for a brief moment about how concerned we were the 3:35 pacer and how off he already was. I wish I had gotten her bib number so I could see how she finished, because I know she kicked my butt and I should have stayed with her!

Anyway, with the pacer behind me, I picked up speed. Too much speed. While my first 3 miles with the pacer were 8:37, 8:27, 8:18 (totally not a reason for me to have been freaking out, by the way…) my pace dropped to 7:26 when I went off on my own. Sure it felt fine at the time, but to think that I was going to be able to sustain that was stupid.

At around mile 4, on the 2^nd bridge, I started looking for Peter and Erin since they planned to be there. Eventually, I spotted them standing on the side of the bridge. I yelled, but neither of them saw or heard me. So I jumped into the air, waved my hands, screamed Peter, and got their attention. I was so excited. Maybe leaping into the air and flailing my arms like a crazy octopus wasn’t the best energy-conservation strategy but the pay-off – getting a second to make eye contact and smile at both of them, was totally worth it. 

To be continued!

Am I Ready to Beat the Burgh?

Welcome to May! Crazy. I literally cannot even think beyond May 3 to the fact that my birthday is in 6 days. Nonsense. 

I registered to run the Pittsburgh Marathon 7 MONTHS ago. Over half a year ago, now. Just a month after I ran my first marathon! 

And now, I'm about 50 hours away from hopefully crossing my second marathon finish line. It won't be the same as Wineglass, but this race will be amazing and special in its own ways. 

(Pittsburgh will be great, but I won't love my bib number as much as I loved this one!)

For one, Pittsburgh is a different kind of race. Whereas Wineglass was small and rural, with a few big cheer areas, but mainly solitary miles through upstate New York, Pittsburgh is an urban race with bands and cheerleaders and DJs every few miles. I motivated myself through Wineglass (with the boosts from my grandparents and some cheering from the wonderful volunteers at fuel stations) but in Pittsburgh, I expect the spectators to help motivate me. I'm also slightly worried that the Broadway-themed performance group at mile 6 is going to make me slow down because I want to hear what they're singing. I can see it now - running up to XTreme Teen Broadway after just 6 miles of the race, pulling off the course and saying, "Eh, that was enough for me - now let's sing Spring Awakening and Les Mis!"

While Wineglass was beautifully flat, Pittsburgh's elevation chart gives me anxiety. 5 bridges. I've sat here crunching numbers - elevation, length of the hill, rate of the incline - trying to compare it to hills I've come to know (and hate) - Harlem Hill, Cat Hill, Randall's Island footbridge. But honestly, I'm going to be freaked out going into my corral no matter what, so I'm putting the calculator down! 

Pittsburgh...

Wineglass...

Training in the winter vs. training in the summer was my biggest concern going into this and looking back, it's easy for me to say it was no big deal. But I know the only reason I was able to get out of bed on mornings that were in the single digits to put on sneakers (and several layers) was because of the amazing people I'm surrounded by. All winter long my Instagram feed was filled with athletes who braved the cold and got it done. All winter long, the people who have become some of my best friends, were there to meet me at Engineer's Gate on a snowy Saturday morning. All winter long, I had someone who would literally have dragged me out of bed if I needed him to. 

And this time around, it's some of those people who will be there in Pittsburgh with me. I'll get to run into the arms of the one who listened to every complaint, every ache and pain. Who drove me to races and stayed in Friday nights to wake up early on Saturday mornings. Who gave me hugs even when I was horribly sweaty. 

I was also inspired by the crazy November Project badasses I'm surrounded by. They seriously race everything. And they race it fast. But I got an even bigger "WOOHOO RUNNING" boost each and every time a friend texted me about their running progress.  Tina's running more and we got to run a 5K together in Columbus. Staci is training for a 10K. Lauren just ran a 5K and said my blog gave her motivation. Allison ran a 5K and is signed up for her first half marathon. Nicole is doing the Couch to 5K. Melissa just went out her front door and ran a 5K. I'M SO HAPPY that people so important to me are taking the plunge!

I did some things differently this time. The biggest change was my mileage. It was significantly less than during my training for Wineglass and less than what NYRR Virtual Trainer had in store for me. My training almost fell apart early on when I started in January. Looking back, I was crazy to think I could jump right into running over 30 miles in a week. At the height of my long runs (18, 20 and 22) my weekly mileage got up around 30 - and I found that 3 or 4 days of running was my sweet spot - definitely not 5 or 6. 

I foam rolled MUCH more than ever before. It's become a habit that instead of going out to eat lunch during the work day, I foam roll at NYSC for 30 minutes. 5 minutes for each calf, 10 minutes for the rest of each leg. I eat lunch at my desk instead, although on some of the nice spring days we've been having, it's even more torturous to drag myself to foam roll.

Girls hate discussing their weight, but we'll see if the fact that I'm 10 pounds heavier at the Pittsburgh starting line is a good thing, or a bad thing. (It's 10 pounds of pure muscle, surely...)

Yoga. Yep, I hopped on board the yoga train and slowly but surely my opinion on it is changing. For 3 weeks I've consistently gone 3 days a week (last week I went 4!) and the skeptic in me has been convinced of yoga's benefits. Woops.

My sneaker shuffle has changed a bit too - instead of running my marathon in Saucony Guides (a stability shoe) I'll be rocking the Saucony Ride (neutral). I also did a ton of training in New Balance fresh foams. Anything under 10 miles I wore my New Balance, and anything over 10 I wore my Sauconys. Once I get back out for speed work, my Adidas will be my speed shoe. I like this new system! 

I used to run all my long runs in compression socks (CEP). But now, I only wear them to sleep for recovery.  

After a brief stint with insoles - I trashed them (bye $60).  

There were also a bunch of things I should have changed, and didn't. Like the fact that I still have no idea what I should eat the night before a long run. Or the morning of a long run. My plan for marathon morning is - well, I don't really have one in terms of what I'm going to eat. Because stupidly, for my long training runs I rarely ate more than a banana. 

All my grand plans to figure out what upset my stomach while running? After a brief stint as a gluten-free and dairy-free runner, I gave up. But I certainly tested out a variety of racing fuels to figure out what I could stomach, right? Oh, if only. At the Boston Marathon Expo I bought my old go-tos - espresso Clif energy shots - and I tested one out on a 7 mile run, but that's hardly "figuring out my nutrition plan." So come Sunday, it's kind of, "cross my fingers and hope for the best." 

I've packed 4 outfits for Sunday. 4. And I don't know how I'm going to figure out which one to wear. 

I have my foam roller, my lacrosse ball, my stick, my icy hot, some ace bandages, and basically every little thing I could ever need. 

My compression socks are ready for the 8 hour drive. 

I'm officially in crazy mode - one minute I'm terrified, one minute I just really don't want to run 26.2 miles, one minute I just one to cross the finish line with a smile, one minute I want to crush my Wineglass time, one minute I'm having a panic attack at a twinge I felt in my ankle. It's exhausting, quite frankly. 

(I'm smiling because this was the only bridge...)

Mentally, it's very different running marathon #2 because on one hand I know I can do this because I've done it before but I also know that miles 20-26.2 are going to be an extremely unpleasant ~hour of my life. Despite the fact that I've completed a marathon, I still want to scream when I hear, "Trust your training. Trust your body." I don't trust it. Hell, I don't even trust what my watch is telling me most days. 

I know that all the training and preparation and foam rolling and yoga in the world can't guarantee that a race is going to go your way. And so instead of trusting my training and my body, I  trust that whatever happens on Sunday will become another part of my running journey. 

Instead of focusing on the fact that everything could quite possibly go horribly wrong, I focus on all the things that went right along the way. The 25K with Peter, my 22 miler at a pace that got me pumped for Pittsburgh, the slow snowy miles, feeling happy enough while running to sing Katy Perry as a plastic bag floated in our path, More than anything, I'll remember telling Peter during the 25K that I felt like the more I relaxed and tried to take it easy, the faster our pace got. That's a feeling that I hadn't had in what felt like years and I'm happy to say towards the end of training it was happening once in awhile.

Whatever happens on Sunday, it's been a great 16 weeks of running and working out with friends, of getting to know my body better, and of treating it better. It's a strange feeling when double-digit mileage Saturday morning runs just feel normal. When training for a marathon just becomes the lifestyle you want to live. It has become a part of my social life, it gives me structure - it challenges me and motivates me and (mostly) makes me smile. 

(But please legs, can you show up big-time on Sunday?)

The Longest Recap In The History of the World; AKA TL;DR

Whoah. A LOT has happened since I last blogged - my b! 

Life just seems to be going a mile a minute lately. My 25th birthday is right around the corner and I wish there was a pause button I could hit just for like a week between the Pittsburgh Marathon and my birthday. I'm not ready! I feel like post-marathon I need a few days to lock myself in a room with a leather-bound journal and some fancy pens while I reflect on a quarter-century of life and figure out, "What next?" There's so many things I want to do, so many self-improvements I want to make, and I need some serious organization if there's any hope of making those things happen. 

I just found a video on BuzzFeed that perfectly explains the feeling I've been all too familiar with lately - how does life seem to go faster and faster the older we get? The Dictionary Of Obscure Sorrows made this video that really hit me hard. Watch it until the end. The last line felt like a punch. 

Maybe this recap will give you a little taste of why my head is spinning!

The last thing I blogged about was the awesome class I took at SLT.

That Friday, I ran down to Tompkins Square Park for a November Project workout - but really, I ran there so I could get the post-workout Tompkins Square french toast bagel with birthday cake cream cheese. Again, it was stellar. 

We had a half day that Friday, so around 2 p.m. I was able to head home to Long Island for the Easter Weekend. It was my first time being home since Christmas! Which is a crazy long time for me. Of course I went straight from the train station to the Yacht Club to meet my dad for a few drinks (they now have UFO on tap - winning!)

My dad did not disappoint with dinner that night - scallops, shrimp, cod, mussels, clams and crab legs. Casual for the Wolman house. (PS - you can search #MitchsMeals on Instagram to see some of my dad's amazing cooking!) 

Saturday morning I went for my scheduled long run - 14 miles that felt really shitty, but were actually pretty damn fast! I was very happy with the 7:58 pace.

That night for dinner he cooked the most delicious lamb on a bed of couscous with asparagus and pine nuts. And all weekend I took full advantage of the tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream in the freezer. 

I also went digging through some old photo albums to collect #tbt content, naturally. There were some winners. I was totally a normal child...

Sunday morning I went to Easter mass by myself since my mom was working and my sister is going to hell anyway ;) I kid, I kid. But really, she wouldn't wake up for church. The sermon was kind of strange, with the priest going on and on about how important women are. It was nice to hear and all but, kinda weird. 

Easter is one of my favorite holidays because my family started doing BRUNCH since my sister and I always had to travel back to school Sunday afternoon. We get a giant bagel hero with bacon egg and cheese and my aunt makes hash browns and then there's locks with onions and capers and my grandma buys 2347892 danishes. This year, she also made PEANUT BUTTER FILLED CUPCAKES with PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING. It's like she knows me or something. 

It was so nice to spend time with my family - it felt like it had been forever and I was really missing them.  

(MY LITTLE COUSINS ARE TALLER THAN ME HELP!)

(Thank God for spring weather!)

Monday it was back to work, and after work, a closing shift at NY Running Co. Tuesday we had a clinic with Nike at the store, and I got a sweeeet pair of Nike Frees! I can't run in them, but I've been wearing them for all of my strength workouts and I have this weird thing that I can't get over the fact that I'm wearing all black sneakers. Does anyone else have this issue?! Whenever I see my feet I'm freaking out. So strange, I know, I know. 

Wednesday I took a half day because MODGE & PODGE CAME TO VISIT ME :) I am so lucky that spending a day with my parents is so exciting to me. They really are two of my best friends. 

(Biffles)

I left work and we went downtown to the 9-11 memorial and museum. While it wasn't as sad as I expected it to be (although it was certainly moving at parts!) it was a really amazing museum and I learned so much. I had read online that it would take around 2 hours to get through it, but we could have spend muchhh longer looking around. Unfortunately, we had to rush through the second half so we could get back to the hotel to change for dinner. 

We had a drink at the Hilton bar (the cosmos there are my mom's favorite) and then went back downtown to meet Peter for our reservation at GATO! I have been trying to get a reservation here since it opened, and it never worked out, so I was beyond excited. There will certainly be a review to come, but spoiler alert, we met Bobby Flay! 

(I <3 this picture)

After dinner we went to Sweetwater Social where I had the most vile cocktail in the history of the world , but we played foosball and Peter and I beat my mom and dad so it turned out OK. Oh, and the waiter swapped out my drink for a much more delicious one. 

(Disgusting drink. Do not order. Tequila/spicy/something. Such a disappointment) 

(Things got heated at the Foosball table!)

(Muchhh better!)

It was such a fun day/night and as usual I was sad to say goodbye in the morning :( 

The next night was "Suite Night" for work - we got to eat and drink in the NHL suite for the last Ranger's game of the season which was great! 

That Friday I had a big decision to make. Ok, nothing life altering. But I had to do my longest training run, the 22 miler, that weekend.  I was feeling a little meh and thought I would push it off until Sunday. There was a big November Project gathering on Friday and Peter had a race Sunday morning, so it seemed like the best option was going out Friday, giving myself the extra day of rest, waking up early Sunday and doing my long run then. 

So we went out Friday night, had a great time (Dunkin Donuts gave us lots of free donuts!) and woke up casually on Saturday morning. 

Me being me, I couldn't spend all Saturday with the 22 miler looming over me. Plus Peter was going into work anyway. So, I laced up my sneakers, said a little prayer, and set off to run 22 miles without a real route or plan. Very unlike me. 

I had worked up this training run in my head  A LOT. For me, either this run went well and I would feel confident going into Pittsburgh, or it would be awful, I would shed some tears, and the drive to Pittsburgh would = me being a complete mental mess. 

I'm happy to say that 9 bridges, one stop at Dunkin Donuts, a chugged water bottle, and 3 boroughs later - I finished my 22 miler with an 8:16 pace and felt SO SO GOOD. The subway trip back from Brooklyn wasn't the most fun thing in the world- but I was so happy to have done it (and to still have Sunday to relax!) 

By relax on Sunday I mean wake up, go to Central Park, cheer for Peter and everyone else running the race, and go to BRUNCH. 

(Cheer squad!)

(Speedy!)

(Cheeeeesin'!)

(Brunch at Bocado - very tasty, a little overpriced, and beware: they don't serve the complimentary cocktail until after 12 p.m.) 

After brunch I went to yoga and after yoga we went to the park because it was BEAUTIFUL out! I colored, did some yoga, and PLAYED LACROSSE. Yes, I broke out the lacrosse sticks for the first time in ages and it was lots of fun. I miss it! I need to find a league. Anyone know where a 20-something can lax in NYC? Drop the deets in the comments. (OR FIELD HOCKEY!)

After the park we went to 16 Handles for the 'yo and then Peter and I got some $4 margs from Blockheads because SPRING! 

Monday was work & more work at the store. Tuesday was free cone day - or, free cup day?

And Tuesday night was a date with Alex from Burke's Bites :) For the start of the playoffs and the start of the first round series of the Islanders vs. Capitals, she cooked me a DELICIOUS dinner that you can read all about on her blog! Let's just say it involved incredible puns which I give Alex full credit for. Thousand ISLANDERS Salmon with CAP-rese Salad, rice and asparagus. Mmm. 

I'd also just like to note that I have been going to yoga A LOT recently. Like 3 - 4 times a week. This is very very strange for me to say and even stranger is the fact that I've been learning to love it. It's a process, and I'm definitely no yogi yet, but I do think it's been helping me a TON if only because it's an hour dedicated to stretching that I normally wouldn't be doing. That, plus the fact that I'm trying to foam roll for 30 minutes every day during my lunch break. The personal trainer at the gym finally introduced himself to me after commenting on my business-casual clothes while foam rolling every day for the past 3 weeks. I must look so strange. 

(This cute instructor at Union Square gave us each an inspiring quote before the start of class!) 

Wednesday was November Project, and whenever I go to 5:30 with Peter I find myself running harder than I intend. Yay motivation! And yay beautiful sunrises. 

Wednesday night after work I met the girls for an ab deck at NYSC and then Peter and I went to get Brazilian food at Zebu right near my old apartment. It was really yummy. I liked that it seemed simple and healthy (OK, maybe not the fried balls of chicken and cream cheese) but it's definitely something that takes getting used to- there's not sauce and dip and all that jazz. It's just the food you order. Which was refreshing. Maybe I'll write a real review. Maybe not. But here are some pictures! 

(Chicken Pastel and Caipirinhas!) 

(Sausage with black beans, collard greens, rice, bacon & egg - little bit of everything!) 

(Guava Cheesecake!)

Friday I got to leave work early for a team-bonding adventure to Escape the Room! Chances are you've heard of people who have done this - and I highly suggest it! It was so much more legit than I had thought it would be. Apparently only 25% of people manage to escape, and I can see why! We came close, but didn't make it out of the room. We did the "Theater" game. I would love to go back and try a different one, although I think I would only do it if I did it with enough people to fill the entire room with people that I knew. 

I love that they have everyone take a picture afterwards and upload it to their Facebook page so you can download it for free - they could totally charge people $15 for it in some dumb souvenir frame. 

(Womp Womp! Losers but still smiling!)

From there I went to Penn Station to meet Peter and begin our journey to Boston for the weekend to visit Peter's friend Anthony! We went to Long Island, stopped at Peter's house for dinner (more Brazilian food, mmm) and hit the road. I sang a lot of show tunes and he somehow didn't kick me out of the car. We also got ice cream and I remembered how amazing McDonald's soft serve is. We made good time and got to Anthony's apartment around 11:30. 

The apartment is in a beautiful old house in Cambridge that I fell in love with. Wantttttt. 

Saturday morning was sunny and warm and we walked for a delicious brunch - the omelettes at Brookline Lunch were HUGE and served with hash browns FULL of fresh, amazing veggies. I was in heaven. And the toast came with homemade apple cinnamon jam that was essentially pie filling. 

We were pleasantly surprised when we got to the Sam Adams brewery and only had to wait 30 minutes for a free tour! The tour was short and sweet so that we could get to the important part - the beer tasting! The tasting room was FREEZING but the beer was great and we left a little tipsy! 

Next stop was the Harpoon brewery! We opted out of the tour and went straight to the beer garden where I got a flight of the different UFO beers -  my favorites! Oh did I mention the beer garden had GIANT SOFT PRETZELS WITH DIPPING SAUCES!? Like, a cinnamon sugar pretzel with PEANUT BUTTER DIPPING SAUCE. 

But I digress. 

We spent the next few hours walking around and seeing the sights. 

We walked to the Marathon finish line and stopped at a restaurant around there for dinner.  The city was pretty packed, so we waiting awhile for our table at Back  Bay Social Club. I ordered the lobster roll which was better than expected on the lobster front. It definitely had a good amount of lobster, and the lobster actually tasted like lobster! The calamari appetizer came out my favorite way too - with peppers, mmm. We also got a Baked Alaska for dessert that legit looked like the poop emoji. Overall, the food wasn't spectacular but it was definitely tasty and I was happy to get my seafood fix (and eat lots of french fries). Their margarita was solid too! 

We had every intention of going back out to a bar that night, but after stopping home to walk the dog and sitting down on the couch, it got later and later and we were still sitting, until we gave up on motivating ourselves to go back out. 

We woke up Sunday morning (ok, very late morning) and went for a pretty 4 mile run along the Charles. We got a quick breakfast and headed to the Boston Marathon Expo - there were a lot of cool things, tons of free samples, and I got 5 of my Clif espresso energy gels. The quest for a BQ is on! 

We drove back late Sunday afternoon, stayed on Long Island for the night, and commuted in on the LIRR Monday morning. 

Last week was a little less chaotic.  Tuesday I had an incredible opportunity to work at the Islanders playoff game. It was so exciting to hear the Coliseum so loud, to see the players and fans alike so pumped up. It wasn't the outcome that we hoped for, but it was an amazing night none the less and such a good feeling to be able to point to something productive that I did. 

Thursday was "Take Your Kids to Work Day" and my office organizes a really great day for the kids and even though I don't have kids, I was able to invite my little cousins to come in! I took them out for lunch and was so terrified of losing them in Rockefeller Center - I don't know how parents do it! I hope they had a good day, they've probably followed hockey and the Islanders more closely than me this season! 

It was also my aunts birthday and her and my uncle were nice enough to take Peter and I out for dinner at China Grill that night. As usual, it was amazingly delicious. They have a great happy hour deal that I plan on checking out after work one of these days - $7 drinks and appetizers. I've tried their drinks and a few of their appetizers and let me tell you - $7 is a steal! They have a nice outdoor patio area too, so try to go on a nice night! 

Friday we had a special guest at November Project - Andrew Ference from the Edmonton Oilers! It was a fun workout, maybe because Peter was my #BUDDDDYYYY and had me cracking up during hoistees. 

Friday night Peter and I went to Harlem for a night at a legit speakeasy! It's a really tiny, intimate jazz club that's BYOB! I don't fully appreciate jazz music, and I didn't love that you couldn't talk at all, but for $20 it was an experience that I'm glad to have had! 

Saturday morning I woke up for my last "long" run - 7 miles in Central Park which is BEAUTIFUL thanks to all of the blooming flowers! 

I got dressed and headed out for a brunch of EPIC proportions for Jess's birthday. Brunch was on Bleecker Street at a place called Carroll Place. If the group is 10 or more people, you get to pick out a family-style menu. For $35 we got 2 hours of endless drinks (you could choose from Pineapple Screwdrivers, Rose Sangria, Mango Bellinis and Blood Marys!) and all the food you could ever want. For he group of 11 of us, we got 3-4 plates of each dish! 

To start, a fresh salad with golden beets, tomatoes and ricotta. 

Next, meatballs! 

Then, thin crust Margherita pizza! 

Next - french toast and baked truffle eggs with creamy polenta and mushroom (I don't like truffle, but I loved this!) 

Dessert? Nutella calzone. It was incredible. And the atmosphere was great - it was a seriously cute, chic place. And the company was the best part :) 

Sunday I ran the Run as One 4 Miler in the park before free yoga at Lulu Lemon. So much yoga these days! 

I took all afternoon to organize myself and GULP started packing for PITTSBURGH! 

I ended the weekend with Oatmeal Sunday! Rebecca, Kayla and Melissa came over and we all had different toppings for an oatmeal potluck. It was so yummmmmy. I love potlucks, and this one was super easy and cheap! 

Friday afternoon I'll be leaving for Pittsburgh to hopefully complete my second marathon. I can't believe how quickly it arrived and I'm excited but a littler concerned because honestly, the biggest thing I feel when I think about Sunday is "Ugh, I don't feel like running 26.2 miles." Is that a normal thought to be having?! HELP! 

Full Disclosure: This has not been proofread.